GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1999

H	3 

HOUSE BILL 253
Committee Substitute Favorable 3/25/99
Senate Rules and Operations of the Senate Committee Substitute Adopted 6/16/99

Short Title:  IRMC Duties Amended.	(Public)

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Sponsors:

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Referred to:  

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March 4, 1999

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO AMEND THE DUTIES OF THE INFORMATION RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION AND TO REQUIRE THAT CERTAIN STATE AGENCY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS MUST BE CERTIFIED BY THE COMMISSION.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 143B-472.41(b) reads as rewritten:
	"(b)	Powers and Duties. – The Commission has the following powers and duties:
(1)	To develop, approve, and publish a statewide information technology strategy covering the current and following biennium that shall be updated annually and shall be submitted to the General Assembly on the first day of each regular session.
(2)	To develop, approve, and sponsor statewide technology initiatives and to report on those initiatives in the annual update of the statewide information technology strategy.
(3)	To review and approve biennially the information technology plans of the executive agencies and to review and comment biennially on the information technology plans of the Administrative Office of the Courts. This review shall include plans for the procurement and use of personal computers and workstations.
(4)	To recommend to the Governor and the Office of State Budget and Management the relative priorities across executive agency information technology plans.
(4a)	To issue certification of any State agency information technology project that requires or is expected to require the expenditure of funds in excess of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000), whether the project is undertaken in a single phase or component or in multiple phases or components.  The certification shall be issued when the Commission determines that the project complies with Commission policies, standards, and procedures.  The Commission shall promptly report each certification to the Office of State Budget and Management, the Office of the State Controller, the Chairs of the Legislative Committees on Information Technology, and the Cochairs of the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations.  No State agency, other than The University of North Carolina or any of its constituent institutions, shall allocate or expend funds in excess of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) on any information technology project without prior certification as required by this subsection.  If an agency cannot determine whether a project or series of projects will require certification, the agency shall seek an opinion from the Commission.  Upon review, the Commission may determine that a project is exempt from certification, and shall advise the agency of its determination.
(5)	To establish a quality assurance policy for all agency information technology projects, information systems training programs, and information systems documentation.  If at any time a certified agency information technology project is not in compliance with Commission policies, standards, or procedures, the Commission may suspend project certification and shall report the suspension to the Office of the State Controller, the Office of State Budget and Management, the Chairs of the Legislative  Committees on Information Technology, and the Cochairs of the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations.  Upon recommendation of the Commission, the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations may request the State Budget Office and the State Controller to take appropriate remedial action, up to and including the suspension of appropriations or the nonrelease of funds to the project.
(6)	To establish and enforce a quality review and expenditure review procedure for major agency information technology projects.
(7)	To review and approve expenditures from appropriations made to the Office of State Budget and Management for the purpose of creating a Computer Reserve Fund.
(8)	To develop and promote a policy and procedures for the fair and competitive procurement of information technology consistent with the rules of the Department of Administration and consistent with published industry standards for open systems that provide agencies with a vendor-neutral operating environment where different information technology hardware, software, and networks operate together easily and reliably."
Section 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.