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Joint committees press for IT spending transparency, order AI inventory from departments
Summary
The Joint Budget and Technology committees reviewed OSPB's IT capital requests and pushed for greater transparency on vendor selection and OIT's revolving cash fund; JTC said it will start an AI inventory of state departments in February to capture generative tools in use.
Senator Marchman, speaking for the Joint Technology Committee, told the joint JBC/JTC meeting that OSPB's IT capital table largely matched committee priorities but flagged negotiated reductions that year, including an approximate $1.9 million rollback on a stationary-sources modernization request.
Marchman said departments had submitted about $10.5 million in IT general-fund requests this cycle, but after some departments revised asks the prioritized total now looks closer to $7.8 million. He asked members to convene within two weeks to prioritize those items and said departments will be asked back to justify outstanding requests.
Representative Titone and others pressed for more legislative influence over vendor selection, arguing earlier stages of procurement leave little room to affect price once vendors are chosen. Titone said she was concerned by a Department of Education request to replace a complex school-finance spreadsheet, which initially carried a $9 million estimate and was later reduced to $3 million.
Senator Marchman also said the Joint Technology Committee plans to begin an inventory in February asking every department what generative AI tools they use and whether any systems make or contribute to critical, high-risk decisions. "Starting in February...we are going to be starting to send questions to the departments to ask them what types of generative AI they are using in their department," Marchman said. The committee indicated it wants more than a short list—departments should provide details on use cases beyond consumer tools.
The committee asked OIT and OSPB staff to provide more detailed breakout data on the revolving technology fund and vendor choice transparency, and to return with explanations on RFP cost estimates and why some line items were reduced.
Next steps: committees asked staff to schedule follow-ups with OIT, the Department of Education and OSPB, and to circulate the AI inventory questionnaire to departments in February.
