U.S. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) recently joined four other senators in Washington demanding answers regarding the disastrous implementation of a new financial management system by the Department of Commerce (DOC).
The $341 million "Business Application Solution (BAS) program was meant to modernize applications but instead caused major system failures," the senators said in a letter. Now, they want to know why and what is being done.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was the first to implement the system in October 2023. It disrupted weather forecast operations, delayed aid money for fishery disasters, threatened safety information for aviators and mariners and prevented employees from getting reimbursement for travel.
"The first rollout, at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in October 2023, has caused a backlog of thousands of unpaid invoices reportedly resulting in a loss of both alerts in tornado-prone areas and vital weather information for pilots," the letter stated.
There are still seven fishery disaster requests that have not been funded due to the system failure.
"This delay has been particularly catastrophic for small communities, like St. Paul Island, Alaska, where the collapse of crab fisheries has had enormous economic impacts," the senators wrote. "We are concerned what other adverse effects may result if the Department continues to roll out the new system without changes."
The senators said the DOC has been aware of the need for improvement, and they want to understand what the DOC is doing to rectify the identified issues. Further, the senators want to know what the specific impact on U.S. citizens will be.
Senators joining Britt are Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska).
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