H 458

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2025
No. 48. An act relating to the Agency of Digital Services.
                                     (H.458)
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont:
Sec. 1. INTENT
   The intent of this act is for the Agency of Digital Services to provide the
General Assembly and the public with more transparency about the scope,
budget, and overall status of certain information technology projects being
managed by the Agency. This act requires the Agency to include more details
about information technology projects it manages in its annual reporting as
well as on its publicly available website in the form of a current projects
inventory.
Sec. 2. 3 V.S.A. § 3303 is amended to read:
§ 3303. REPORTING, RECORDS, AND REVIEW REQUIREMENTS
   (a) Annual report and budget. The Secretary shall submit to the General
Assembly House Committee on Energy and Digital Infrastructure and the
Senate Committee on Institutions, concurrent with the Governor’s annual
budget request required under 32 V.S.A. § 306, an annual report for
information technology and cybersecurity. The report shall reflect the
priorities of the Agency and shall include:
      (1) performance metrics and trends, including baseline and annual
measurements, for each division of the Agency;
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      (2) a financial report of revenues and expenditures to date for the current
fiscal year;
      (3) costs avoided or saved as a result of technology optimization for the
previous fiscal year;
      (4) an outline summary of information, including scope, schedule,
budget, and status for information technology projects with total costs of
$500,000.00 or greater a summary of each active information technology
project managed by the Agency’s Enterprise Project Management Office,
including each project’s:
         (A) scope;
         (B) budget;
         (C) timeline; and
         (D) status, which includes:
               (i) project closure details;
               (ii) project changes over time; and
               (iii) other indicators of the project being on time and on budget;
      (5) an annual update to the strategic plan prepared pursuant to
subsection (c) of this section;
      (6) a summary of independent reviews as required by subsection (d) of
this section, including any uses of the waiver authority by the Chief
Information Officer pursuant to subdivision (d)(3) of this section;
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      (7) the Agency budget submission;
      (8) an annual update to the inventory required by section 3305 of this
title; and.
      (9) a report on the expenditures of the Technology Modernization
Special Fund, a list of projects receiving funding from the Fund in the prior
fiscal year, and a list of prioritized recommendations for projects to be funded
from the Fund in the next fiscal year.
   (b) Records. The Agency shall maintain the following records for
information technology projects with a total cost of $500,000.00 or greater
managed by the Agency’s Enterprise Project Management Office:
      (1) A business case, including staffing costs, when available to and
provided by the State government business partner, life-cycle costs, and
sources of funds for design, development, and implementation, as well as
maintenance and operations. The business case shall include expected
benefits, including cost savings and service delivery improvements.
                                         ***
   (d) Independent expert review.
      (1) The Agency shall obtain independent expert review of any new
information technology projects with a total cost of $1,000,000.00 or greater or
when required by the Chief Information Officer.
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      (2) The independent review shall include:
         (A) an acquisition cost assessment;
         (B) a technology architecture and standards review;
         (C) an implementation plan assessment;
         (D) a cost analysis and a model for benefit analysis;
         (E) an analysis of alternatives;
         (F) an impact analysis on net operating costs for the agency carrying
out the activity; and
         (G) a security assessment.
      (3) The requirement to obtain independent expert review described in
subdivision (1) of this subsection (d) may be waived by the Chief Information
Officer if, in his or her the Chief Information Officer’s judgment, such a
review would be duplicative of one or more reviews that have been, or will be,
conducted under a separate federal or State requirement. If waived, such
waiver shall be in writing and in accordance with procedures established by the
Chief Information Officer.
   (e) Current projects inventory. The Agency shall maintain a project
inventory on its publicly accessible website that displays the status of all
current information technology projects managed by the Agency’s Enterprise
Project Management Office. The inventory shall be updated at least monthly
and include the:
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      (1) State government business partner for each project;
      (2) name of each project;
      (3) start date of each project;
      (4) estimated date of completion at the start of the implementation phase
of each project along with an indicator as to whether the project is on time;
      (5) estimated project cost at the start of the implementation phase of
each project along with an indicator as to whether the project is on budget;
      (6) current estimated date of completion of each project; and
      (7) current estimated cost of each project.
Sec. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE
   This act shall take effect on July 1, 2025.
Date Governor signed bill: June 5, 2025
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