BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 1578 (Pan) - FISCal Project: reports on expenditures for
service contracts.
Amended: May 27, 2014 Policy Vote: GO 6-2
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 4, 2014
Consultant: Mark McKenzie
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 1578 would require additional information about
state service contracts with a value of over $5,000 to be made
available to the public on the Financial Information System of
California (FISCal) Project website, upon full implementation of
the system. The bill would also require the Department of
Finance (DOF) to compile specified information from FISCal into
an annual Personal Services Contractor Expenditure Budget, which
would be submitted with the Governor's Budget.
Fiscal Impact:
One-time costs of approximately $2.5 million in 2015-16 to
make necessary programming changes to add functionality to
the FISCal Project that is not currently within the project
scope ($1.5 million - General Fund; $1 million - FISCal
Internal Services Fund). Staff estimates that ongoing costs
to query information from the system and post it on the
FISCal website would be minor.
Likely minor costs of up to $50,000 to the Department of
General Services (DGS) to update the State Contracting
Manual to reflect requirements to capture and report
additional subcontractor information. (General Fund)
Minor and absorbable costs to DOF to annually compile
information on contracts for services from FISCal and submit
it with the Governor's Budget. (General Fund)
Background: DGS currently provides data on contracts for
services valued at over $5,000 that are reported by state
contracting agencies in the State Contract and Procurement
Registration System (SCPRS). Contracting data that is reported
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to the SCPRS includes department names, contractor names,
contract amounts, and contract descriptions, and DGS compiles
the data in a downloadable, searchable, and sortable format.
The development of the FISCal system is currently underway, and
is expected to be fully implemented by the end of 2017. FISCal
is a major information technology project that will combine
accounting, budgeting, cash management, and procurement
operations into a single financial management system. Existing
law requires FISCal to include a transparency component that
allows for public access to government expenditures on its
website.
Existing law, SB 335 (Yee), Chap. 757/2013, requires certain
information on state contracts for services with a value of over
$5,000 to be posted on the FISCal website, upon full
implementation of the FISCal Project. Specifically, for service
contracts by state agencies that are utilizing the full
functionality of FISCal, the following information must be
posted on the website in a searchable and sortable format:
A description of the contract and services being
purchased.
The name of the agency contracting for the services.
The name of the contractor, unless otherwise exempt from
disclosure.
The effective date and expiration date of the contract.
The annual amounts paid to the contractor in the prior
fiscal years.
The total or maximum projected cost of the contract for
all fiscal years within the contract period.
The acquisition method.
Existing law requires the Governor to submit to the Legislature
within the first 10 days of each calendar year, a proposed
budget for the next fiscal year, as specified. The Governor's
proposed budget must contain itemized statements for recommended
state expenditures and estimated state revenues.
Proposed Law: AB 1578 would require the following additional
information on state contracts for services with a value of over
$5,000 to be made available to the public on the FISCal Project
Website:
A description of the personal services contract and
services being purchased.
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The department or division contracting for the services
(in addition to agencies).
The name of any and all subcontractors (in addition to
contractors).
The annual amounts to be paid in all fiscal years during
which the contract will be in effect, by funding source
(instead of amounts paid in prior fiscal years).
The original amount of the contract, and the funding
sources for all original and projected contract
expenditures.
The bill would also require DOF to compile all of the specified
information on service contracts in an annual Personal Services
Contractor Expenditure Budget accompanying the Governor's
Budget.
Staff Comments: This bill is intended to make additional
information on state agency contracts for services available to
the public.
The FISCal Project indicates that this bill would require a
change in project scope, resulting in an increase in project
costs. Specifically, AB 1578 requires information on
subcontractors performing work on service contracts and data on
the funding sources for all contract costs to be made available
to the public on the FISCal website. The FISCal Project is not
currently designed to provide that level of functionality, so
the scope would need to be changed to allow for the capture of
that data and to develop a query tool to provide access to the
specified information through the website. The FISCal Project
estimates one-time costs of $2.5 million and 9 positions to
complete the necessary workload, and ongoing costs of $500,000.
Staff estimates that ongoing costs should be minor once the
FISCal system is fully implemented.
DOF indicates that costs to compile the specified FISCal
information on contracts for services into an annual Personal
Services Contractor Expenditure Budget should be absorbable.
Staff notes that SB 335 (Yee) was amended in the Assembly last
year to delete requirements that information on subcontractors
and funding sources be made available to the public. These
amendments appear to have been made in response to concerns
raised by DOF regarding potential costs to the FISCal Project.
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