HOUSE BILL 291
46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2004
INTRODUCED BY
John A. Heaton
AN ACT
RELATING TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY; ENACTING THE ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT ACT; CREATING THE ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT COMMISSION AND ESTABLISHING MEMBERSHIP; GRANTING DUTIES AND POWERS; CREATING THE ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT FUND; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION; DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. SHORT TITLE.--This act may be cited as the "Electronic Government Act".
Section 2. PURPOSE.--The purpose of the Electronic Government Act is to:
A. establish an electronic government and management structure to provide oversight, review, fiscal monitoring, strategic planning and policy development for the state's electronic government initiatives;
B. establish an electronic government commission and define its powers and duties;
C. establish an electronic government lead agency and define its powers and duties;
D. establish a basis for the allocation of revenues generated by electronic government initiatives; and
E. promote the digital provision of state information, services and business and financial transactions to constituents, businesses and other governmental entities.
Section 3. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Electronic Government Act:
A. "commission" means the electronic government commission;
B. "contract portal developers or operators" means companies that offer portal development, maintenance and ongoing operations under contract with the state;
C. "convenience fee" means a fee charged to a consumer to purchase a data record electronically when that purchase is optional and for the convenience of the consumer;
D. "data record" means an electronic record owned by the state and generally stored in a digital database;
E. "electronic business" means the conduct of digital business transactions, usually nongovernmental, over the internet;
F. "electronic government" means the provision of state government information and services, including financial transactions, via the internet or intranet;
G. "enterprise" means the state government of New Mexico and all of its political subdivisions;
H. "external electronic transactions" means digital electronic government transactions between state agencies and entities that are not state agencies;
I. "guideline" means a recommendation issued by the commission that does not require compliance by state agencies;
J. "internal electronic transactions" means digital electronic government transactions between two or more state agencies;
K. "internet" means the worldwide, external digital networks that provide access to state resources to individuals, businesses and other government entities;
L. "intranet" means the state's internal digital networks that do not generally provide access to the public;
M. "lead agency" means the state agency designated by the governor to supervise and coordinate the day-to-day operations of the state's portal and electronic government initiatives;
N. "portal" means a virtual, digital, single port-of-entry to provide access to state information, services and business and financial transactions;
O. "state agency" means any unit of state government or any of its political subdivisions;
P. "statutory fee" means a fee that the state charges to a consumer to purchase certain data records electronically, or to complete certain business transactions with the state, such as a license renewal;
Q. "subscription fee" means a fee charged to a consumer for specific, recurring electronic government services and information provided electronically to the consumer at the consumer's request;
R. "tier pricing" means a pricing structure for the sale of a commodity that sets different prices for consumers based on the their membership in specific categories; and
S. "transaction fee" means a fee charged to a consumer upon the purchase of certain data records to help defray the costs of providing the record electronically.
Section 4. COMMISSION CREATED--MEMBERSHIP.--
A. The "electronic government commission" is created. The commission shall consist of eleven voting members as follows:
(1) four members, appointed by the governor, two of whom work for state agencies that participate in the state's portal initiative. The four members shall serve for staggered two-year terms and may be reappointed to the commission by the governor at the end of their terms;
(2) the secretary or director of the lead agency or his designee;
(3) the chief information officer or his designee;
(4) one member representing higher education, appointed by the commission on higher education;
(5) one member representing municipalities, appointed by the New Mexico municipal league;
(6) one member representing counties, appointed by the New Mexico association of counties; and
(7) two members, appointed by the governor, to represent the public, who have electronic government or electronic business experience and management experience, but who are not employees of a state agency and who do not have any financial interest in the state information systems or state contracts. The two public members shall serve for staggered two-year terms and may be reappointed to the commission by the governor at the end of their terms.
B. Voting members not appointed by the governor are appointed to two-year terms and may be reappointed to the commission by their respective appointing authorities at the conclusion of their terms.
C. Not more than ten nonvoting advisory members may, with the concurrence of the commission, serve on the commission. They are appointed to indefinite terms and continue to serve at the pleasure of the commission as follows:
(1) one member from the judicial information systems council, appointed by the chair of that council;
(2) one staff member from the legislative council service and one staff member from the legislative finance committee, appointed by their respective directors;
(3) one member from Sandia national laboratories and one member from Los Alamos national laboratory, appointed by the laboratory directors;
(4) one member from the attorney general's office, appointed by the attorney general; and
(5) up to four additional advisory members, appointed by the chair of the commission and ratified by the commission by majority vote.
D. Members of the commission who are not salaried state officers or employees may receive per diem and mileage pursuant to the Per Diem and Mileage Act, but shall receive no other compensation, perquisite or allowance.
E. The commission shall elect a chair and vice chair from the voting membership of the commission for two-year terms.
F. The commission shall meet at least monthly and may meet at the call of the chair or a majority of the members.
Section 5. COMMISSION--POWERS AND DUTIES.--The commission shall:
A. adopt and promulgate rules necessary for the administration of the Electronic Government Act, including operational procedures for the commission;
B. adopt and promulgate enterprise-level rules for state agencies to conduct business by electronic means over the internet or intranet, including financial transactions;
C. adopt and promulgate rules governing external electronic transactions;
D. adopt and promulgate rules governing internal electronic transactions;
E. adopt and promulgate rules or guidelines for determining which types of public data records may be released over the internet, including which types of public data records may be sold to governments, businesses or individuals;
F. adopt and promulgate rules authorizing the collection of fees, including statutory, transaction, subscription and convenience fees pursuant to the provisions of the Public Records Act;
G. establish pricing structures for data records sold over the internet, including tier pricing when appropriate, for data records that are covered under the provisions of the Public Records Act;
H. adopt and promulgate enterprise-level rules necessary to protect the privacy of nonpublic personal information and the security of data records that may be released to the public over the internet and to ensure compliance with state and federal security and privacy laws and rules;
I. provide oversight and review of the state's electronic government activities, including the state's electronic government portal and any contract portal developers or operators that may be retained by the state;
J. perform a monthly financial review, as well as review of the annual independent fiscal audit of the electronic government fund and of the revenue generated by the state's electronic government portal through any contract portal developers or operators that may be retained by the state, to ensure that the portal is generating appropriate revenues and that the contract portal developers or operators are fulfilling the terms of their contracts with the state;
K. provide oversight and direction to the lead agency regarding the management of any contract portal developers or operators retained by the state and, with the chief information officer, grant approval for the lead agency's and contract portal developers' or operators' plans or implementations for the portal;
L. develop and update annually by September 1 an electronic government strategic plan for the state that is in conformance with the state's information technology strategic plan;
M. provide regular oversight and review of state agency electronic government initiatives that are not conducted through the state's portal to ensure that such initiatives are in compliance with the state's electronic government strategic plan and the state's information technology strategic plan;
N. designate committees and subcommittees as appropriate to assist in the conduct of commission business;
O. provide oversight and review of the lead agency's performance as the portal operations and contract manager for the state and deliver semiannual reports of the findings to the information technology commission, the information technology oversight committee, the department of finance and administration and the legislative finance committee;
P. review monthly the financial situation and the operational status of the state's electronic government portal and other non-portal electronic government activities of state agencies and deliver semiannual reports of the findings to the information technology commission, the information technology oversight committee, the department of finance and administration and the legislative finance committee;
Q. establish criteria for determining whether specific portal management expenses are reimbursable to state agencies and review and approve or reject state agency requests for reimbursement from the electronic government fund for legitimate portal management expenses incurred by state agencies that actively participate in the executive management of the state's portal initiatives; and
R. submit proposed rules to the information technology commission and the information technology oversight committee for review and comment prior to adoption.
Section 6. ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT LEAD AGENCY--POWERS AND DUTIES.--
A. The governor shall designate a state agency as the lead agency for state electronic government activities.
B. The lead agency shall:
(1) provide day-to-day operational supervision and control of the state's electronic government portal and any contract portal developers or operators that may be retained by the state;
(2) accept direction from the commission regarding the management of the portal and contracts with contract portal developers or operators;
(3) provide necessary staff to supervise and manage the state's relationship and contract with any contract portal developers or operators that may be retained by the state;
(4) review the annual independent fiscal audits of the state's electronic government portal and present the results to the commission;
(5) provide any required staffing to the commission;
(6) recommend procedures and rules to the commission for improved oversight of the state's electronic government initiatives;
(7) provide monthly reports to the commission detailing the financial situation and the operational status of the state's electronic government portal and other such information as may be requested by the commission;
(8) provide semiannual reports to the commission for transmittal to the department of finance and administration, the information technology commission, the information technology oversight committee and the legislative finance committee detailing the financial situation and the operational status of the state's electronic government portal and other non-portal electronic government activities of state agencies; and
(9) perform any other function assigned by the commission.
C. The lead agency may:
(1) obtain information, documents and records that are not confidential by law from any state agency as necessary to carry out the provisions of the Electronic Government Act;
(2) enter into contracts;
(3) perform reviews of state agency electronic government projects or electronic government management processes;
(4) hire staff as necessary to carry out the provisions of the Electronic Government Act. Staff are subject to the provisions of the Personnel Act; and
(5) when requested, offer assistance or expertise on electronic government to the judiciary, legislature, institutions of higher education, counties, municipalities, public school districts and other political subdivisions of the state.
Section 7. ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT FUND--REIMBURSEMENT.--
A. The "electronic government fund" is created in the state treasury. Money collected from providing electronic services shall be deposited in the fund. The fund shall be administered by the commission, and money in the fund is appropriated to the commission to carry out the administrative purposes of the Electronic Government Act. Expenditures from the fund shall be by warrant of the secretary of finance and administration upon vouchers signed by the chairman of the commission or his authorized representative. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of a fiscal year shall revert to the general fund.
B. State agencies that actively participate in the executive management of the state's electronic government portal initiatives may request reimbursement of their portal-related management expenses from electronic government revenues generated through the portal under the following circumstances:
(1) detailed requests for reimbursement of legitimate portal management expenses shall be presented in a timely manner to the commission;
(2) the commission must approve by majority vote the reimbursement of claimed expenses; and
(3) the state must have collected enough electronic government revenues through the portal to cover the cost of the reimbursement.
Section 8. INTERIM ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT GOVERNANCE AUTHORITY.--
A. The commission shall be established no later than July 1, 2004.
B. Until the commission is established, governance authority for state electronic government shall reside with the information technology commission, with the powers and duties described in Section 5 of this 2004 act.
Section 9. ENFORCEMENT.--The commission may adopt and promulgate reasonable rules to enforce the Electronic Government Act.
Section 10. ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT PLANS AND PROJECTS.--
A. The commission on higher education, the judicial branch of government, the legislative branch of government and municipalities and counties are encouraged to submit their electronic government plans and projects to the commission and the lead agency, the legislative finance committee and the information technology oversight committee for review and comment by those entities.
B. The commission on higher education, the judicial branch of government, the legislative branch of government and municipalities and counties are encouraged to coordinate their electronic government plans and projects with the executive branch and each other whenever possible in order to leverage resources and optimize services to constituents.
Section 11. APPROPRIATION.--Fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the electronic government fund for expenditure in fiscal years 2004 and 2005 to cover portal start-up expenses, including the development of a request for proposals that will result in the selection of one or more contract portal developers or operators. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2005 shall revert to the general fund.
Section 12. EMERGENCY.--It is necessary for the public peace, health and safety that this act take effect immediately.
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