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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Moosic, last week applauded the passage of the Making Electronic Government Accountable By Yielding Tangible Efficiencies (MEGABYTE) Act.</p><p>Cartwright&#8217;s bill will now be sent to the president&#8217;s desk to be signed into law.</p><p>The legislation &#8212; H.R. 4904 &#8212; introduced in the U.S. House on April 12, along with Representatives Will Hurd, R-Texas, Steve Russell, R-Oklahoma, and Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, passed in the U.S. Senate by unanimous consent. The bill passed the House on June 7. U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, and Gary Peters, D-Michigan, introduced companion legislation in the U.S. Senate.</p><p>According to information provided by Cartwright&#8217;s office, the federal government spends more than $80 billion annually on information technology (IT). However, he said the federal government has not effectively managed this spending, prompting the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to identify IT acquisition as a high risk area in February 2015.</p><p>Cartwright said GAO designates areas as high risk due to significant vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement. Over the last five years, there have been several IT management initiatives to focus agency efforts on creating inventories of IT assets, eliminating duplication, and effectively managing such assets. However, these initiatives have not made effective management of software licenses a priority, Cartwright said.</p><p>The purpose of the MEGABYTE Act is to improve software license management across the federal government to achieve tangible cost savings. The MEGABYTE Act requires federal agencies to establish a comprehensive inventory of 80 percent of software license spending; track and maintain software licenses in order to improve the agency&#8217;s software life cycle management, analyze software use, provide training to employees on software license management and establish goals for agency software license management.</p><p>GAO stated the federal government has already achieved at least $250 million in savings as a result of effective software license management. GAO stated additional savings could result if agencies implemented GAO&#8217;s recommendations.</p><p><strong>Bill to fight opioid abuse goes to president&#8217;s desk; includes Toomey painkiller proposal</strong></p><p>U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey&#8217;s proposal to fight the growing scourge of heroin and opioid abuse is on its way to the president&#8217;s desk to be signed into law after the Senate approved the final version of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) by a vote of 92-2 last week.</p><p>CARA expands opioid prevention and education programs, improves addiction treatment and gives law enforcement more tools to deal with the growing problem of heroin and opioid abuse. The bill also incorporates two bipartisan measures championed by Toomey, R-Zionsville.</p><p>First, CARA includes a bipartisan bill authored by Toomey and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, to cut down on the diversion of addictive painkillers to the black market, improve care for seniors battling addiction and save taxpayers nearly $200 million.</p><p>The Government Accountability Office estimated nearly 170,000 Medicare beneficiaries were engaged in &#8220;doctor shopping&#8221; &#8212; where a person visits multiple doctors to get duplicate prescriptions of powerful prescription opioids. The Toomey-Brown measure, adopted by the full Senate as an amendment to CARA, will enable Medicare to &#8220;lock&#8221; those who would cheat the system into a single prescriber and pharmacy.</p><p><strong>Barletta supports aggressive approach to containing terrorism</strong></p><p>On the first anniversary of the Obama Administration&#8217;s Iran Nuclear Deal, U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Hazleton, has supported a package of three bills to curtail Iran&#8217;s ability to support terrorism and impose sanctions on the belligerent regime.</p><p>Barletta voted in favor of legislation to punish Iran for its support of terrorism, its ballistic missile program, and rampant human rights violations and to require the president to report to Congress on efforts to retrieve Americans being held prisoner in Iran.</p><p>In addition, he supported bills to block Iranian access to the U.S. dollar and prohibit the purchase of Iranian heavy water, a key ingredient in some nuclear reactors that can be used to produce plutonium.</p><p>Barletta has also been highly critical of the Obama Administration&#8217;s entrance into the Iran Nuclear Deal, which paves the way for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.</p><p>&#8220;Iran is the most prolific state sponsor of terrorism in the world today, and they cannot be allowed to operate on a clear field,&#8221; Barletta said.</p><p><strong>Wolf secures historic increases to education in 2016-17 budget</strong></p><p>Gov. Tom Wolf said the 2016-17 budget is a significant step forward for Pennsylvania schools. He said it will help ensure student success, and improve access to a high-quality education &#8212; &#8220;regardless of a child&#8217;s zip code.&#8221;</p><p>According to information provided by the governor&#8217;s office, in less than two years, Wolf has secured historic increases in education funding that begin to restore the deep cuts made during the previous administration</p><p>According to Wolf&#8217;s office, the budget provides:</p><p>&#8226; An additional $200 million in basic education funding.</p><p>&#8226; A $30 million increase for early childhood education, preserving the number of slots for proven early childhood education programs like Pre-K Counts and Head Start.</p><p>&#8226; A $20 million increase for special education.</p><p>&#8226; More than $10 million increase for early intervention.</p><p>&#8226; A nearly $40 million increase for higher education.</p><p>Wolf said the new education funding included in the budget will be distributed using the fair funding formula, signed into law by the governor in early June. Prior to the passing of this bill, Pennsylvania was one of only three states that did not have such a formula in place, creating massive inequities in schools and hitting the most vulnerable students the hardest.</p><p><strong>PennDOT launches traffic website for travelers during DNC</strong></p><p>Governor Tom Wolf has announced the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) has launched a detailed travelers&#8217; website to assist residents and visitors as Philadelphia hosts the Democratic National Convention from July 25-28. The site &#8212; www.511pa.com/DNC &#8212; is linked both to PennDOT&#8217;s 511PA site and the Pennsylvania Turnpike&#8217;s travelers&#8217; information site.</p><p>Wolf said the convention will bring thousands of delegates, media and visitors to Philadelphia and the website will help everyone stay on top of changing traffic conditions and information about street closures and restrictions.</p><p>The site&#8217;s home page offers options to see information about real-time traffic conditions on highways in the Philadelphia region and lists street closures around the convention venue at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia. The site is accessible from both desktop and mobile interfaces.</p><p>PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards said the goal is to keep inconvenience to visitors and residents alike at a minimum during the DNC, and the website is one way they can become aware of changing traffic conditions.</p><p>Pennsylvania Turnpike Chairman Sean Logan said the www.511pa.com/DNC site will be useful for anyone driving in Philadelphia and its suburbs &#8212; including those who may not be headed to Philadelphia&#8217;s Wells Fargo Center and the DNC.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Cartwright </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_Cartwright2-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Cartwright </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_Toomey_Pat_toned-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Toomey </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_Toomey_Pat_toned-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Toomey </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_Leslie-Richards-PennDOT-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Richards </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_Leslie-Richards-PennDOT-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Richards </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Capitol Roundup: Rep. Matt Cartwright’s bill, MEGABYTE Act, on way to president’s desk