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Bill seeks to stop software vendors from forcing state agencies onto vendor's cloud
Summary
Senator Jesse Kiel and a Coalition for Fair Software Licensing witness told the committee SB 258 would prevent vendors from contractually restricting where public entities run software, aiming to protect procurement choice, reduce vendor lock-in, and lower long-term costs for the treasury.
Senator Jesse Kiel described SB 258 as a procurement reform aimed at giving state and local government customers the choice of where to run software they buy. "SB 258 simply says that software licenses cannot restrict where the state or political subdivision chooses to run applications they buy," Kiel said, adding that the bill does not prevent agencies from choosing a single vendor if it best meets their technical and security needs.
Scott Drexel, representing the Coalition for Fair Software Licensing, testified that the bill responds to a post-2019 shift in licensing practices that ties some software to a vendor's preferred cloud, which can limit competition and raise costs. "It puts the choice back in the hands of the people who know the state's needs best," Drexel said, arguing that the change will allow procurement decisions to weigh price, quality and cybersecurity rather than contractual lock-in.
Committee members raised questions about fiscal impacts, the state CIO's position, and operational trade-offs of moving between platforms. Drexel and the sponsor said the law targets contract language for future procurements and that vendor diversification can improve cyber resilience. No administration official was on the line to offer a formal position during the hearing; the committee set the bill aside for a future date.