What's happening
This bill requires contractors on certain large state computer-based contracts to use software that verifies and tracks billable work hours.
Why it matters
Promotes transparency and accountability. The bill aims to reduce fraud and overbilling by requiring contractors to use software that independently verifies work hours, giving state agencies and auditors direct access to digital records of billed time.
Protects privacy and sets boundaries. While the software tracks activity frequency and takes periodic screenshots, it is prohibited from recording actual keystrokes or mouse events, and must comply with existing data privacy laws, striking a balance between oversight and worker privacy.
Limits potential misuse of collected data. Data generated by the software is classified as the contractor’s financial record, may not be sold or used for other purposes, and must be provided to the agency or auditors upon request at no extra cost, reducing the risk of exploitation or hidden fees.
Excludes certain entities and devices. The requirements do not apply to state employees, inter-agency contracts, law enforcement agencies, or work performed on state-owned devices, focusing the mandate specifically on large, third-party contractor arrangements involving hourly computer-based work.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Track Contractor Computer Hours
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to internet and technology
- Reported and committed to finance
- Referred to internet and technology
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
5398
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 29, 2019
Introduced by Sen. SAVINO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Internet and Technology
AN ACT to amend the state finance law, in relation to utilizing software to verify hours worked on computers and billed to the government for certain contracts
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The legislature recognizes that an increasing amount of government contracts require the use of computers, a virtual office or online activity. The legislature further recognizes the difficulty in verifying hours worked on computers and billed to the government for government contracts. Therefore, the legislature intends to establish a secure and transparent process to verify hours worked on computers and billed to the government for certain contracts to prevent abuse and overbilling.
§ 2. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 136-d to read as follows:
§ 136-d. Contracts for professional or technical services to be performed with the use of a computer. 1. For the purposes of this section, "software" shall mean software which tracks computer usage in order to verify work hours performed.
2. A contract between a state agency and a contractor for more than two hundred fifty thousand dollars which includes professional or technical services to be performed with the use of a computer and billed to the state at an hourly rate shall require such contractor to use software which verifies the hours billed for the work performed on a computer pursuant to such contract. This section shall not apply to any hours billed that are not performed with the use of a computer. This section also shall not apply to the following entities:
(a) state employees;
(b) state agencies contracting with other state agencies;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11254-01-9
S. 5398 2
(c) law enforcement agencies; and
(d) any individual who works for a contractor using a state-owned device.
3. A contract subject to this section shall require the contractor to use software which verifies that hours billed for work under such contract and performed on a computer are legitimate. Such contract shall specify that the contracting agency shall not pay for hours worked on a computer unless those hours are verifiable by the software or by data collected by the software. Such software shall:
(a) allow the contracting agency or an auditor of such agency to access any data collected or provided by the software;
(b) automatically gather verification data of state-funded activity by recording keystroke and mouse event frequency, but shall not record actual keystrokes or mouse events, and by taking a screenshot at least once every three minutes; and
(c) protect all private or confidential data as otherwise required by federal or state law.
4. Data collected by the software shall be considered financial records belonging to the contractor. Such contractor shall store, or arrange for the storage of, data collected by the software and provide access by the contracting agency or state auditors upon their request. Such contractor may not sell or use data generated by the software for any other purposes than to manage and verify hours worked on a computer and billed to the state.
5. The contractor shall not charge the agency or an auditor of the agency for access to or use of the work verification software, or for access to or retrievals of data collected by the software.
6. Software used under this section shall be procured by the contractor from an independent entity. Such independent entity shall not have access to any screenshots generated by the software used to comply with this section.
§ 3. This act shall take effect one hundred eighty days after it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the state finance law, in relation to utilizing software to verify hours worked on computers and billed to the government for certain contracts
Purpose
Requires contractors performing work for a state agency with the use of a computer to track such computer usage.
Summary of provisions
Amends state finance law by adding a new section 136-d pertaining to contracts for professional or technical services performed with the use of a computer to use software to track the computer usage to verify work hours performed.
Read the full memo (1,026 words)
This shall apply to contracts for more than two hundred and fifty thou- sand dollars for professional or technical services performed with the use of a computer and billed at an hourly rate.
This bill shall not apply to:
- State employees
- State agencies contracting with other state agencies
- Law enforcement agencies
- Individuals who work for a contactor using a state-owned device.
Existing law
Currently state agencies have no automatic billing verification system to verify hours worked on a computer and billed to the state, relying on age-old "self-certification"
Justification
Increasing amounts of government contracts require the use of computers, a virtual office or online activity. Recognizing the difficulty in veri- fying hours worked on computers and billed to the government for govern- ment contracts. Billing Verification Software (BVS) would establish a secure and transparent process to verify hours worked on computers and billed to the government contracts to prevent abuse and overbilling.
IT Contracts for Hours Worked on a Computer and Billed to the State, Only: Legislation only applies to hours worked on a computer and billed to the state for information technology contracts. The software is never placed on state's computers, only on the contractors' computers.
o Hours not worked on a computer exempted - like conference calls, meet- ings or travel can be manually entered into BVS, but those hours are not subject to the requirements of the bill.
o BVS is not a performance management tool. It simply verifies hours worked on a computer and billed to the state. It is not a tool to verify the quality of work completed.
Screenshots: Screenshots verify work; taken every three minutes. Howev- er, this is customizable to 5, 7 or even 10 minutes, per the need for the state. Screenshots can only be accessed by the contractor and the state in its audit role. BVS vendors have no access to screenshots.
o This ensures all BVS data remains in the control of the Contractor and auditing state.
Mouse Events and Keystrokes Only Counted: The bill also prescribes the counting of mouse events or keystrokes, but prohibits the recording of actual mouse events or keystrokes.
o This is to ensure activity is occurring on the computer; it is not a performance measurement. Jobs vary; BVS does not prove quality or accu- racy, only activity.
o This also prevents all recording of sensitive data, such as user names and passwords.
As required by the legislation, BVS vendors will not have access to the screenshots.
BVS is completely user controlled by the user, ensuring their and the contractor's privacy
o The user turns it on when the begin work for the state and turns it off when they stop. They can turn it on and off at any time
o The user can review and remove any screenshots before they are uploaded to the cloud or behind the firewall and can do the same in their diary where the screenshots are stored
o BVS can blank screenshots when using applications and websites that contain private information leaving no need to redact information; this protects the privacy and confidentiality of any sensitive or personal information.
The contractor will have complete control over the storage, confiden- tiality, privacy and sensitive information per federal and state law. No storage time limits are set in the law, just by state law, regulations or the terms of the contract.
Only State and Contractor Access BVS Data: Control over the data gener- ated by the BVS remains in the hands of the contractor and the state's access to this data is provided by the contractor.
o No third party will see any data generated by the BVS. Only the contractor will see the data, except in the circumstance where the state requests to see the data to verify billable hours as part of their audit responsibilities.
o In such cases, the protections of financial data under audits will ensure the data will not become public.
No Data Sold: To protect sensitive and private data, contractors may not sell or use the screenshots in any way other than to prove and manage hours worked on the computer and billed to the state.
BVS saves all vendors time and money, regardless of their size: $2,500 per user per year! A worker who saves 6 minutes a day by automating billable entry frees up an extra 30 minutes per week to work on deliver- ing a better product to the state. Billing at $100 an hour means the savings is $50 a week. Over a year, that is $2,500 per employee using the system. That is time the state will no longer be billed for and can be used by the contractor to improve the quality of the product deliv- ered.
Data Storage by State Law - no timeframes in the bill: The time for storage of the data generated by the BVS is determined by state law and corresponding implementing regulations/contract. BVS is a new tool that creates the most efficient, consistent, accurate and transparent process for Government to verify hours worked on a computer and billed to the State.
Legislative history
New Bill
Fiscal implications
To be determined but may be offset by potential savings through prevention of abuse and overbilling
Effective date
This act shall take effect one hundred eighty days after it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.