BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     AB 522


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          Date of Hearing:  April 29, 2015


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                                 Jimmy Gomez, Chair


          AB  
          522 (Burke) - As Introduced February 23, 2015


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          Urgency:  No  State Mandated Local Program:  NoReimbursable:  No


          SUMMARY:


          This bill requires the Department of General Services (DGS) and  
          the Department of Technology (CalTech) to develop a standardized  
          contractor performance assessment reporting system and to use  
          this system when awarding all information technology (IT)  








                                                                     AB 522


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          contracts.


          


          FISCAL EFFECT:





          Special fund costs for DGS and CalTech to develop and implement  
          the contractor assessment system, which would involve evaluating  
          contractor proposals (in light of past performance) and  
          evaluating performance upon conclusion of contracts, would be up  
          to several hundred thousand dollars annually. 


          The above cost is in part because, as currently written, the  
          bill would cover all IT contracts for goods and services,  
          regardless of dollar amount, including contracts for  
          off-the-shelf software and equipment. According to DGS, in the  
          12 months between November 1, 2013 and October 31, 2014, the  
          state awarded 12,000 unique contracts for IT goods and services.


          COMMENTS:


          Purpose. The author cites the state's past IT project  
          difficulties in which several projects were completed late and  
          over budget.  "Assembly Bill 522 creates a report card for IT  
          vendors and requires the state's procurement process to take  
          into account a bidder's past performance when awarding  
          projects," the author states.  "This bill will ensure that  
          California has an accurate picture of the vendor it is entering  
          into contracts with by using the data collected by the  
          performance assessment in addition to other procurement  








                                                                     AB 522


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          procedures to evaluate and award any future IT contract or  
          project."


          According to CalTech, the department is already working to  
          create an IT contractor performance system and plans to continue  
          to work with IT vendors and DGS during its development.  Several  
          IT vendors and IT groups voiced support for the concept of  
          establishing such a system at a July 2014 hearing of the  
          Assembly Committee on Accountability and Administrative Review  
          regarding IT procurement.  


          Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081