Purchasing Transparency Information Technology Procurement

Joint Technology Committee. Section 1 of the bill authorizes the joint technology committee to conduct an annual review of all rates that the office of information technology (office) charges when billing users for the office's services. Section 2 requires that budget requests submitted to the joint technology committee include:

• Information and responses from a request for information for any budget request related to a major information technology project; and
• Formal market research for any budget request that is not related to a major information technology project.

Section 3 provides that money in the information technology revolving fund, which the office expends to pay the costs of consolidation and information technology maintenance and upgrades, is no longer continuously appropriated to the office and instead is subject to annual appropriation by the general assembly. Section 4 repeals the office's ability to approve procurement contracts related to information technology resources on behalf of state agencies. The office may be a party to a procurement contract related to the procurement of information technology resources for a state agency if the state agency requests that the office be a party to the contract. Section 5 provides that state agencies are not required to obtain approval from the office before commencing work on a major information technology project or planning to make significant changes to the major information technology project or budget, and makes other conforming changes. Section 6 requires certain governmental bodies to issue a request for information prior to awarding a contract related to a major information technology project, and requires that the request for information be submitted to the joint technology committee as part of any budget request related to a major information technology project. Responses to a request for information related to a contract for a major information technology project must be presented to the joint technology committee if requested by the committee, and the committee shall meet in executive session to review the responses. Section 6 also requires certain governmental bodies to conduct market research prior to awarding a contract related to an information technology project that is not a major information technology project, and requires the market research to be submitted to the joint technology committee as part of any budget request related to the project.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)