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History
- Referred to finance
- Referred to finance
Full text
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Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the state finance law, in relation to contents of the budget relating to appropriations for certain information technology projects
Purpose or general idea of bill
To enhance the information detailed in the budget regarding state contracts, and financial obligations concerning same, particularly relating to information technology.
Summary of specific provisions
Section 22 of the state finance law is amended by adding a new subdivision 17, relating to information technology (IT) projects totaling $5 million or more proposed for funding in the budget. The Commissioner of the lead agency proposing the project shall provide the Division of the Budget and the Fiscal Committees of the Legislature with information about the proposed project, including the schedule for design, development and implementation, the estimated cost and the rationale and method of procurement. Section 22 of the state finance law is amended by adding a new subdivision 14b, requiring the director of the budget to provide the Legislature's Fiscal Committees with a report including project specific information about the proposed appropriations. A new section 2-b is added to the state finance law to define information technology as it is used in subdivision 14 of section 22 of this chapter.
Read the full memo (719 words)
Effects of present law which this bill would alter
Section 22 of the state finance law defines the content of the budget submitted annually to the legislature; this bill adds further provisions regarding such submittals.
Justification
The Assembly Committee on Oversight, Analysis and Investigation has engaged in a number of investigations relating to state agency procurements. Its focus has included a review of the State's contractual obligations relating to information technology projects -- a significant and growing fiscal obligation to the State,
Oftentimes, it is very difficult to identify in budget documents a clear picture of what the Governor proposes to spend and is actually spending, on contractual obligations tied to IT projects. Sometimes an item may appear as a separate item of appropriation. The State's Medicaid Management Information System is one example of this and only more recently, CONNECTIONS. However, in more cases than not, the contractual obligation is subsumed within a broader agency appropriation and hence, more difficult to identify and track. Further, the information provided to the Legislature at budget time is often less than specific about the long-term fiscal implications to the State to develop these IT systems,
Key to the Legislature's decision-making process is not only how much an obligation will cost the state today, but what will be the entire cost to the state when fully implemented. For the Legislature, the decision to appropriate monies in the first instance should be based on a complete understanding of the fiscal commitment, over the anticipated life of the project.
This bill will provide the Legislature with the tools to make informed decisions in the first instance, and annually thereafter. This provision is modeled on existing State Finance law, Section 22, subdivision 12a and 12b, relating to monies appropriated to remedy state agencies' environmental law violations. That law was developed in response to another Oversight Committee investigation conducted in 1990 and has proved to be a useful tool in the Legislature's consideration of proposed budget items to remedy environmental law violations.
This legislation will provide a more complete picture of the State's IT contractual obligations tied and in turn, better enabling the Legislature to perform its constitutional obligation of enacting a State Budget. Among other things, it will tie contractual obligations to particular appropriations, provide details on the full scope of the project, including how long it should take to develop the IT system; what the entire fiscal impact will be to the State; whether the contract is keeping on track and on budget; and whether the contract is facing significant cost overturns and if so, why.
Prior legislative history
2003 - Passed in Assembly 2004 - Referred to Ways & Means 2006 - Referred to Finance 2008 - S2274 - Referred to Finance
Fiscal implications for state and local governments
Not only is there no fiscal implication to the State or Local Governments with this legislation, this legislation could result in cost savings and greater efficiencies to the State upon implementation.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on July 1, 2009.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.