Joint Technology Committee advances bill to increase IT procurement transparency

The Joint Technology Committee voted 5–1 on Oct. 12 to introduce draft legislation titled Purchasing Transparency for Information Technology Procurement, which would require agencies to submit information-gathering documents and formal market research with IT budget requests and expand JTC’s review role.

The legislation, described by the chair as aimed at giving the Joint Technology Committee (JTC) the information it needs to evaluate IT projects, would authorize JTC to perform annual reviews of IT project rates and billing practices, require that budget requests include information from requests for information (RFIs) or formal market research, and authorize JTC to review those RFI responses and market research in executive session when needed to protect proprietary pricing. The draft also removes the office’s continuous appropriation for IT revolving fund expenses and repeals the office’s ability to approve IT procurement contracts; the office may still be a party to procurement processes, the drafter said.

Committee members debated language and scope. Senator Marchman suggested broadening the bill’s requirement from a specific RFI to a more general “scope of work” or other preprocurement materials so the committee could review information without necessarily going into executive session. Nicole Myers of Legislative Legal Services, and a drafter who joined the discussion, explained the bill currently distinguishes two requirements: an RFI for a defined “major information technology project” and formal market research for smaller projects. Ms. Martin told the committee that executive sessions are proposed so JTC can see RFI responses that may contain proprietary pricing or other information typically redacted until after awards are made, and she said the committee could make entry to executive session optional rather than mandatory.

Representative Pascal asked for clearer definitions of “market research” and for broader procurement materials, including user-experience work, architecture and scope checklists, so JTC would not need to repeatedly request the same baseline data. Samantha Falco, legislative counsel staff, said staff receive compiled requests in varying formats and that the bill aims to ensure procurement process information is provided up front with budget requests so staff can prepare consistent analyses.

Senator Rodriguez moved to introduce the draft legislation; the roll call recorded Bazely, Rodriguez, Weinberg, Marchman and the chair voting yes and Representative Pascal voting no. The chair announced the motion passed 5–1. Committee members agreed to work on clarifying definitions and to draft amendments before formal introduction; several members volunteered to sponsor or cosponsor and the committee indicated the bill will start in the House.