Committee hears multiple procurement and travel items; DAGS comptroller flags reporting burden on travel moratorium

The committee considered several procurement and administrative measures late in the agenda, including SB 32-30 (prohibiting government bodies from procuring project-management services through nongovernmental third parties), a procurement-protests bill that would require forfeiture of protest bonds, and SB 3332, a proposed two-year state-funded travel moratorium for certain agencies.

DAGS and the State Procurement Office stood on written testimony in opposition or comment for the procurement items; the American Council of Engineering Companies and other industry groups submitted written opposition to the third-party procurement restriction. On the travel moratorium, the comptroller (identified during the hearing as Keith Regan) told the committee the bill would require DAGS to compile information the department does not currently collect and would divert staff resources; he recommended considering rule changes or amending the reporting requirement rather than imposing a new statutory annual reporting burden. "This is information that we're not already collecting, and so it would require us to divert staff and resources to be able to compile that information," he said.

The committee did not adopt final votes on some procurement items during this session; it signaled that measures will move to Ways and Means or subsequent committee consideration as appropriate.