Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

SENATE COMMITTEE ON -- SELECT -- GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY

Date:02/22/2006
ATTENDANCE
Time:12:06 PM to 01:33 PM
Hanna
*
Owen
*
Place:SCR 354
Teck
X
Grossman
X
This Meeting was called to order by
Groff
X
Senator Groff
This Report was prepared by
X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call
Bills Addressed: Action Taken:
Senate Bill 06-149
John Picanso - OIT
Dr. John Witwer - CBMS		-
-
-


12:06 PM -- Discussion of Senate Bill 06-149

Senator Groff distributed Senate Bill 06-149 concerning the oversight of communications and information technology resources in state agencies (Attachment A). He explained that the bill was referred from the Senate Business, Labor, and Technology Committee for review by the Senate Select Committee on Government Accountability.


12:07 PM - Presentation by John Picanso, Chief Information Officer, State of Colorado

John Picanso, Chief Information Officer, State of Colorado, discussed some recent changes made to the Office of Innovation and Technology (OIT). He stated that the mission of the office is to increase the effectiveness of government through the use of technology. Mr. Picanso discussed the reorganization that occurred to the OIT last year due to significant budget reductions, lack of focus on core functions, stake holder dissatisfaction, and conflicting statutes. Mr. Picanso stated that the OIT addressed those issues by reprioritizing the office. He explained what has been accomplished by the recent reprioritzation of the OIT. Mr. Picanso talked about Senate Bill 06-149 and House Bill 06-1157.

12:12 PM

Mr. Picanso discussed efforts that had been implemented to solve past problems with the OIT procurement.

12:15 PM

Senator Groff asked Mr. Picanso to discuss Senate Bill 06-149 in more detail. Mr. Picanso stated that the intent of the bill is to shift the authoritative roll of the Colorado Commission on Information Management (IMC) to the OIT. He stated that moving the authority to the OIT would allow the OIT to work more closely with projects, and to assist other agencies with those projects. Senator Groff asked whether the OIT provides assistance to state departments and agencies with regard to developing information technology contracts, and if so what criteria determine which contracts come out of OIT. Mr. Picanso responded and talked about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) contract where the OIT and staff consulted for proper language of the contract. He added that currently there is no staff offering contractual support to agencies. Senator Groff asked if OIT had any involvement with projects such as Colorado Benefits Management System (CBMS) or Genesis. Mr. Picanso stated that the OIT was predominately involved in the project management and project oversight arenas of those projects. He stated that the OIT, with the consultation of the IMC, made some firm recommendations on some of the CBMS project status. He added that the OIT is very involved in any project that is high risk, red status projects, and any project over $5 million.

12:21 PM

Senator Teck asked if Mr. Picanso had any chain of command over the department CIOs, which has seemed to be a problem in the past. Mr. Picanso agreed. Mr. Picanso was asked to comment on any shortcomings he sees in any of the bills that have been introduced to fix these problems. Mr. Picanso stated that he feels the bills do a great job in seeking to remedy past problems.

12:28 PM

Senator Owen asked who currently prioritizes technology projects. Mr. Picanso stated that OIT receives requests for proposals over the $25,000 threshold where they are discussed and reviewed on their merits. The recommendation is then passed along to the IMC where the proposal is presented to the Office of State Planning and Budgeting.

12:32 PM

There was discussion about adding higher education technology contracts to statute. Mr. Picanso stated that both he and the Chief Information Security Officer are working together with the Colorado Commission on Higher Education to learn how the state can help in that arena. He stated that it would take a significant amount of resources to include higher education. Senator Groff asked about the role of Mark Weatherford, State of Colorado, Chief Information Security Officer.

12:38 PM

Senator Owen talked about making the system more centralized. Mr. Picanso discussed two projects that have recently been terminated. Senator Grossman talked about Senate Bill 06-149 and asked how many people report to Mr. Weatherford. Mr. Picanso stated that at this time there are no direct reports to him, but that Mr. Weatherford has assembled security teams that report security related matters to him.

12:45 PM

Senator Grossman stated that the Homeland Security Select Committee had heard about how vulnerable the state's computer system is. He stated that he feels there should be more than one person accountable for that security. Mr. Picanso stated that there are security practices in place and that the OIT is trying to improve them.

12:51 PM

In the interest of time, Senator Groff requested that the committee write out any additional questions they had for Mr. Picanso. Mr. Picanso could then provide written responses.


12:53 PM -- Discussion with Dr. John Witwer, Director, CBMS

Dr. John Witwer, Director of the Colorado Benefits Management System (CBMS), distributed a handout entitled, "Colorado Benefits Management System Update" (Attachment B). The handout talks about recent changes and improvements to the CBMS program. He walked through the handout. He stated that page 2 is the most important because it explains that CBMS is not a welfare system, rather it is a computer system. Dr. Witwer discussed a court decision that required there be 2 safety nets in place for the program.

01:06 PM

Dr. Witwer continued going through the slides and stated that almost all of the cases from the old system are now in the new system. He discussed help desk tickets where each complaint is given a ticket number that is tracked. He stated that they are close to stability of help desk ticket numbers which serves as a measure of response to computer and policy issues.

01:10 PM

Dr. Witwer stated that page 18 of the handout explains the improvements to the system. Senator Hanna asked if the system has improved from the prior system. Dr. Witwer stated that he would like a study to be conducted of the effectiveness of the system. He explained that it takes longer to enter cases with this system because more information is being entered since more eligibility is being determined. Senator Hanna asked if the state has saved money by combining the welfare systems into CBMS. Dr. Witwer stated that a study of the system's cost-effectiveness had also not been conducted, but that he would like it to be done this summer.

01:14 PM

Senator Teck stated that saving money is not the only reason CBMS was created. Dr. Witwer stated that the money spent to date on the contract is estimated to be about $177 million and that the system is approximately $8 million over what they originally estimated. He noted however that $13 million of that money has gone to the counties to help them to implement the CBMS program, and that $14 million has been spent as result of a lawsuit. Senator Owens asked if the funds that went to counties have been tracked to make sure the counties are spending those dollars on CBMS.

01:19 PM

Senator Groff asked how many FTE are currently in the office working on CBMS. Dr. Witwer responded that 36 people are currently on loan to CBMS from the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing and the Department of Human Services for an overall total of about 60 FTE. There was discussion about what to do with those FTE once the CBMS system is stable. Dr. Witwer recommended keeping those individuals on. There was committee discussion on what is being done to stop the previous non-performance of the system. Dr. Witwer directed the committee to page 20 of the handout that outlined the changes made to the system in December of 2005.

01:29 PM

Senator Hanna asked Dr. Witwer what he would have done differently from day one of the program to prevent the problems that occurred, and what can be learned from those problems now. Dr. Witwer recommended that there needs to be a single and independent point of decision making, the scope or size of the project needs to be controlled, there needs to be an independent evaluation of who is using the program, users must be trained from the beginning of the program, and funding and resources must be maintained.

01:29 PM

The Select Committee adjourned.