The Government Operations and Fiscal Policy Committee recommended that County Council amend Bill 17-25 to exempt Internet access service from the county's procurement code and that the exemption be implemented through administrative procedures approved by the Chief Administrative Officer.

The change is intended to let the Department of Technology and Enterprise Business Solutions buy Internet access under procedures rather than the county's regular competitive-solicitation regime because vendors have declined to accept the county's standard contracts, committee staff said.

Committee staff summarized background and impact: Chapter 11B of the County Code makes most county purchases subject to procurement rules; the county executive and Department of Technology and Enterprise Business Solutions (TEBS) say major Internet providers have refused to sign the county's standard agreements, forcing the county to rely on a Chief Administrative Officer waiver for current contracts. That waiver expires on 2026-05-04, and of the two contractors operating under the waiver, one has exceeded the $100,000 waiver threshold and the other is expected to approach it in fall 2025, staff said.

Council staff said the bill as introduced would exempt "the obtaining of Internet access service" from procurement law and would require procedures approved by the Chief Administrative Officer instead of the procurement requirements in county code. The staff member who introduced the item noted that language is similar to other limited procurement exemptions in county code and differs from items the code requires to be governed by executive regulation.

"Bill 17-25 was introduced on 06/17/2025. Its lead sponsor is the council president at the request of the county executive," Council staff told the committee. The Office of Management and Budget told the committee the bill will reduce expenditures significantly; the Office of Legislative Oversight reported minimal impact on racial equity and social justice, climate and economic impact, according to staff summaries presented at the meeting.

TEBS representatives told the committee that extending the county's fiber to the Equinix data center and direct access to multiple backbone providers has lowered prices on an apples-to-apples basis to roughly one-tenth of previous costs and that selling or reselling connectivity to local governments and public-education customers has produced substantial savings for partners such as the cities of Gaithersburg and Rockville. "We are buying Internet access service now at about one tenth the price that we were previously on an apples to apples basis," the TEBS representative said.

Committee members asked about transparency and oversight if procurement rules are relaxed. Councilmember Andrew Friedson asked whether the procedures approved by the Chief Administrative Officer would be shared with the council and the public. TEBS said a three-person working group (the county's chief information officer, chief broadband officer, and TEBS senior network engineering and operations manager) would review vendor proposals, and the procedures have been drafted with the county attorney and will be submitted to the county executive for approval. Council staff clarified that administrative procedures are governed by the county's 2A-16 requirement, which mandates transmission to the council and availability to county employees, whereas the specific procedure language proposed in the bill as introduced would not itself be governed by that section.

Committee members expressed support for using administrative procedures rather than leaving the implementation wholly undefined. "I think the process by which we do this should be known to everybody and the rationale behind it," Councilmember Friedson said. The committee asked staff to work with the Office of the County Attorney and either amend the bill to call for administrative procedures or confirm before full council that adopting the administrative-procedures approach would not interfere with the executive's intent.

The committee also noted that the executive had not requested expedited treatment when the bill was filed but that the approaching waiver thresholds might make expediting appropriate; members asked staff to consider that option before full council.

No public testimony on the bill was reported at the committee session.

The committee's action is a committee-level recommendation to amend the bill to require administrative procedures and to consult the County Attorney before the bill goes to full council; it is not a formal adoption by the full council. The committee did not record a formal roll-call vote on final passage at this session.

If enacted as discussed, the change would allow TEBS to contract for Internet access under a documented executive procedure overseen by senior technical staff rather than under the county's standard procurement process. The committee asked that the procedures be transmitted to council and made publicly available consistent with 2A-16 if the administrative-procedure route is used.

The committee adjourned after discussing the two items on its agenda.