BLAIR LEE III,

Acting Governor

3191

of the Executive Branch. During the legislative process,
the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services
was exempted from the provisions of the bill by amendment.
However, the three-phase consolidation program, which
encompasses the Public Safety Data Center, was left intact.

I do not believe that the Department of Budget and
Fiscal Planning can effectively meet the requirements of
House Bill 948 if a major using agency is excluded from the
bill's provisions. The bill was intended to clarify the
responsibilities of the Department in connection with its
current responsibilities under Article 15A. Many of these
responsibilities are duplicative or overlapping in nature,
but the Department of Public Safety and Correctional
Services is specifically excluded from the responsibilities
of the Budget department as set forth in House Bill 948. If
House Bill 94 8 were to be signed, the Department may be
required to create two separate and distinct methods for
procurement of data processing equipment and services. All
State agencies except Public Safety and Correctional
Services would be governed by the rules and regulations
issued under the authority of House Bill 948, and would be
subject to the legislative guidance therein with regard to
competition thresholds, lowest responsive bidders, the
monitoring of privacy and security of data, the sharing with
or the sale or lease of data processing services among
governmental agencies, and other criteria. The Department
of Public Safety and Correctional Services would come under
a separate procedure issued under the authority of Article
15A, Section 23B. However, it is unclear whether the same
legislative guidance and criteria could be applied to the
procedures that would be applicable to that Department.

The Attorney General, at my request, has specifically
addressed this issue and has concluded that the
responsibilities of the Department of Budget and Fiscal
Planning under the new subtitle created by House Bill 948
are additional to his duties under Article 15A, but do not
apply to the Department of Public Safety and Correctional
Services. A copy of the Opinion of the Attorney General is
attached.

The three—phase reorganization of the State's data
processing resources has begun and will proceed. Phase I
thereof is now a matter of law. I support the concept and
objectives of House Bill 948 as set forth in the legislative
declaration of policy, and I recognize the tremendous
two—year effort of its sponsors. However, as amended, House
Bill 948 will only serve to confuse an area of major State
responsibility which requires a cautious consideration of
individual State agency priorities and practices. Most
important, the procurement procedures mandated by the bill
must be uniform for all agencies. House Bill 948, as
amended, defeats that objective.