AB 475: Department of Technology.

Existing law establishes within the Government Operations Agency the Department of Technology, which is supervised by the Director of Technology. Existing law authorizes the Director of Technology and the Department of Technology to exercise various powers in creating and managing the information technology policy of the state, including, among others, reviewing and maintaining the information technology sections of the State Administrative Manual, except for those provisions relating to information technology procurement procedures and information technology fiscal policy.

This bill would require the director to also be responsible for periodically reviewing and maintaining procurement procedures related to information technology projects. The bill would also make technical changes in the provision relating to the duties of the director.

Existing law requires the director to produce an annual information technology performance report, and to submit that report to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee by January 15 of every year.

This bill would recast the requirements of that report by consolidating therein reports of cost savings and other avoidances that are currently included in another annual report, and would require the director to include any changes in the report when submitting it to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.

Existing law requires the department to submit an information technology performance management framework to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee by May 15, 2009, and to notify the Legislature if the agency modifies that framework.

This bill instead would require the department to maintain an information technology performance management framework that includes specified information relating to the states information technology program. The bill would remove the requirement that the department submit the framework to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and notify the committee of any changes to the framework.

Existing law requires the director to review a specified manual and draft a report, based on that manual and other specified factors, to be transmitted to certain legislative committees on or before July 1, 2016, that recommends how a team of senior consulting information technology experts could be developed to serve as support for state agencies and senior project team members in state government. Existing law also requires the director, after transmitting the report, to establish a unit, within the department, of consulting information technology experts to serve as support for state agencies.

This bill would repeal that reporting requirement as well as the requirement to establish a unit of consulting information technology experts.

Existing law requires each state agency and certain designated state entities, on or before February 1 of every year, to report to the department a summary of its actual and projected information technology and telecommunications costs, as specified. Existing law also requires each of these state agencies and entities, on or before January 1, 2018, and annually thereafter, to report to the department a summary of its actual and projected information security costs, as specified.

This bill would instead require that both of these summaries be submitted to the department on or before February 1 of every year.

Existing law authorizes the Department of Technology, until January 1, 2018, and where any of certain conditions exist to utilize a specified negotiation process for the purpose of procuring information technology and telecommunications goods and services on behalf of state departments and information technology projects.

This bill would remove the January 1, 2018, date restriction described above and thereby would continue indefinitely the authority of the Department of Technology to utilize that specified negotiation process.