Number:        118-20
Date:             March 3, 2025

The President Signs H.R. 9566, the
“Source code Harmonization And Reuse in Information Technology
(SHARE IT) Act”

On December 23, 2024, the President signed H.R. 9566, the “Source code Harmonization And Reuse in Information Technology (SHARE IT) Act” (Public Law 118-187).  The Senate passed the bill on December 18, 2024 without amendment by unanimous consent.  The House suspended the rules and passed this bill by voice vote on December 4, 2024.

The following are provisions of interest to the Social Security Administration.   

Sec. 3. Software Reuse.

  • No later than 210 days after enactment, requires the head of each agency to ensure the agency’s custom-developed code and other key technical components of the code (including documentation, data models, schemas, metadata, architecture designs, configuration scripts, and artifacts required to develop, build, test, and deploy the code) are:
      • stored at not less than one public or private repository;
      • accessible to Federal employees; and
      • owned by the agency.
  • Requires the head of an agency that enters a contract for custom software development to acquire and exercise rights sufficient to enable governmentwide access to, sharing of, use of, and modification of any custom-developed code created in the development of such software.
  • No later than 210 days after enactment, requires the head of each agency make metadata created on or after such date for the agency’s custom-developed code publicly accessible.
  • No later than 180 days after enactment, requires an agency’s Chief Information Officer (CIO), in consultation with the agency’s Chief Acquisition Officer (or similar official) and the Administrator of the Office of Electronic Government develop an agency-wide policy that:
    • implements the requirements of this Act, including –
      • ensuring that custom-developed code follows the best practices established by the Office of Management and Budget for operating repositories and version control systems to keep track of changes and to facilitate collaboration among multiple developers; and
      • managing the sharing of custom developed code and the public accessibility of metadata; and
    • corrects or amends agency policies that are inconsistent with the requirements of this Act.
  • No later than 120 days after enactment, requires the Administrator of the Office of Electronic Government to establish minimum standard reporting requirements for agency CIO’s which include information relating to—
    • measuring the frequency of code reuse, including access and modification;
    • whether the shared code is maintained;
    • whether there is a feedback mechanism for improvements to or community development of the shared code; and
    • the number and circumstances of all exemptions granted (see section 4 below).
  • Requires OMB issue guidance that establishes best practices and uniform procedures across agencies for the purposes of implementing this subsection.

Sec. 4 Exemptions

  • Prohibits this Act from applying to classified source code or source code developed primarily for use in a national security system or to source code the disclosure of which is exempt under 5 U.S.C. § 552(b) (the ‘‘Freedom of Information Act’’).
  • Allows an agency’s CIO, in consultation with the Federal Privacy Council, to exempt from the requirements the Act any source code for which a limited exemption applies.

Effective Date

  • Unless otherwise stated, the provisions of this bill are effective upon enactment.