Author seeks constitutional amendment to let bonding pay for public IT infrastructure

Representative Hansen presented House File 33 52, a proposed constitutional amendment to broaden bonding authority to include capital costs of public information technology systems, licenses and related data infrastructure. The author framed IT systems as critical infrastructure akin to roads, bridges and buildings and said current constitutional language predates modern IT needs.

County IT leaders and policy fellows testified in favor. Witnesses cited recent cyberattacks against local governments, repeated Legislative Auditor recommendations to modernize systems to reduce fraud and coordination failures, and operational burdens on providers that must reconcile data across unconnected agency systems. Supporters argued that general obligation bonding would allow the state to finance large, multi-agency modernization efforts without competing against biennial operating budgets.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about the boundaries between capital and operating expenses (examples included hardware and installation versus ongoing license fees). The author said the intent is to fund capital infrastructure for IT but not to shift recurring license payments to bond proceeds. The committee did not finalize action on the constitutional amendment in this hearing.