Legislative Report By Sen. Larry Robinson
The summer months are passing us by quickly. It won’t be long and the combines will be rolling as our area farmers begin the fall harvest.
The legislative branch of government has not been sitting still. Although we are in what we call the interim ( the time between sessions), there is considerable activity taking place. The interim committees have been meeting on a regular basis as we try to finalize our work in time to present our findings to the Legislative Council in November. I have been privileged to serve as chairperson of the Interim Information Technology Committee. In fact, I have been the only interim chairperson of this committee since the committee was established in 1995. It is an interesting and challenging committee. We are charged with the oversight of large Information Technology projects for the state of North Dakota. We classify any project with a price tag of over $250,000 as a large project. By comparison, our friends in Minnesota classify large projects as anything with a price tag of over five million.
Through legislative action over the years, we have put in place the necessary structure to provide for a system of checks and balances to minimize the chances of technology projects failing. That process requires pre planning, budgeting, a review of “best practices’ in other states, project management, and an ongoing progress checks to insure that the project is on time and on budget. The advent of technology has provide many efficiencies in the way we do business. It has also created challenges for us to insure that we control costs and manage technology so we don’t allow ourselves to be “managed” buy the technology we created.
During the course of each interim, agencies are required to forward their respective plans for Information Technology projects to a special committee we have established called the State Information Technology Advisory Committee, e.g., SITAC. This committee is comprised of agency heads, legislators, and the Chief information Officer of the state. The committee receives from numerous agencies, plans for Major Information Technology Projects for the upcoming biennium. The committee prioritizes the projects based on need, merit, and the quality of the IT plan itself. A select few are then approved by the Governor’s Office for inclusion in the next Executive Budget Recommendation. This budget is then forwarded to the legislature for their review and approval.
During the current biennium, the Information Technology Committee is closely monitoring the progress of several large Information Technology projects. Those projects include the following:
Workforce Safety and Insurance: A large IT Project which will replace the agency’s existing core business applications with a commercial off-the-shelf, integrated software solution. The project cost is 14 million. These dollars will come from “other funds” which are generated by employer premium payments.
Secretary of State: The 2007 Legislative Assembly approved a total of $824,153 in state general fund dollars to the secretary of State’s Office for continuing the migration from the state’s mainframe.
Legislative Assembly: The 2007 Legislative Assembly provided $3,910,827 general fund appropriation for a legislative application system computer project.
Department of Human Services: Medicaid Management Information System. This is by far the largest Information Technology Project underway. The project will ultimately stretch out over several biennium’s. The project will replace the current mainframe system which is approximately 30 years old, with newer technology designed to meet the informational, operational, and administrative needs necessary to support the day-to-day management of the Medicaid Program. The primary function of the system, is the payment of Medicaid claims from health care providers for individuals enrolled in the Medicaid program. The providers include nursing homes, dentists, hospitals, physicians, etc. The total cost of the Medicaid Management Information System replacement project is a whopping $70.4 million of which $7.5 million is from state funds.
As you can see, Information Technology is big business for the state of North Dakota. As the Information Technology Committee, we work hard to insure that projects are warranted, well planned, on time and on budget. At a recent Managing Technology Conference held in Seattle, Washington, North Dakota was commended on several occasions for having a very good Information Technology Project Management Process in place. In many states, the failure of Information Technology Projects is commonplace, costing those state millions. This is a challenging and difficult process, but it is one that must be in place. Our work continues. We will meet again in late August to receive an update on the progress of these and other Information Technology Plans.
We welcome your thoughts, ideas, and questions regarding the many issues facing our state and region. Until next time, you may reach us at ; and .
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