Committee reviews Oregon Buys adoption; five agencies granted exceptions, SPOTS cards remain data gap

Co-chair Smith opened an informational hearing March 3 on HB 5002, the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) primary appropriation, and asked DAS officials to follow up on procurement questions about the Oregon Buys system.

Debbie Dennis, chief administrative officer and deputy director at DAS, told the subcommittee that all 80 agencies adopted Oregon Buys phase 1 (posting solicitations and contract awards) but five agencies have exceptions or delayed rollouts for phase 2 (purchase orders, invoicing, receiving and requisitions). "The last wave of agencies... we finally went completely live in the system with all of our agencies in September of 2023," Dennis said, adding that the agencies with partial exceptions either requested additional time or use specialized systems that meet their business needs.

The five agencies Dennis identified as having phase‑2 exceptions were the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Oregon Employment Department, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), Oregon Parks, and the Department of Corrections. She said ODOT uses an industry system called AASHTOWare for highway spending and has statutory authority for some highway contracting; ODOT asked for a 12–18…