Enrolled Bill Summary

            Senate Bill 1701, affecting electronic information systems operations among state agencies, amends the Government Code to provide for a quality assurance team (QAT) created by the state auditor's office, the Legislative Budget Board (LBB), and the Department of Information Resources (DIR). The bill revises various statutes relating to strategic planning, evaluation, reporting, project approval, funding, and other functions and sets out associated responsibilities of the four entities above. A major information resources project requires LBB and QAT approval, and if the QAT determines that the project is poorly managed or has excessive cost overruns, it may establish a corrective action plan, or it may discontinue the project, subject to LBB approval. The bill establishes the role of an electronic data center at Angelo State University relating to disaster recovery and certain other operations and services, and requires agencies to use the center for these operations and services or obtain waivers from the LBB. Other provisions require the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, in cooperation with the DIR, to establish an electronically searchable central database relating to state agency grant opportunities. The bill provides for related advisory committees appointed by the governor and the commission. The DIR must link to the database from TexasOnline.