SRC-JEC S.B. 1579 78(R)   BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research Center   S.B. 1579
By: Carona
State Affairs
4/3/2003
As Filed


DIGEST AND PURPOSE 

Currently, most state agencies rely on proprietary software, which incurs
a considerable cost through licensing fees and maintenance.  Copyright
laws on the software restrict its use and modification, preventing
agencies from adapting the software to their needs.  As proposed, S.B.
1579 allows state agencies to choose software products on a
"value-for-money" basis, rather than being limited to traditional products
on the market. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to
a state officer, institution, or agency. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Chapter 2054F, Government Code, by adding Section
2054.114, as follows: 

Sec. 2054.114.  ACQUISITION OF SOFTWARE.  (a)  Defines "open source
software," "open standards," and "proprietary software." 

(b)  Requires a state agency, for all new software acquisitions, to
consider open source in addition to proprietary software products; acquire
software products primarily on a valuefor-money basis with exceptions;
provide justification whenever a proprietary software product is acquired
instead of open source software; avoid acquiring products that do not
comply with open standards for interoperability or data storage; and avoid
acquiring products that are known to make unauthorized transfers of
information to, or permit unauthorized control of or modification to the
state government's computer systems by, parties outside the control of the
state government. 

SECTION 2.  Amends Section 2054.056, Government Code, to require the
Department of Information Resources to comply with Section 2054.114 if an
interagency contract for service is for software acquisition. 

SECTION  3.  Amends Section 2055.052, Government Code, to provide that in
this section, "best practices" includes compliance with Section 2054.114
for the electronic government program management office. 

SECTION  4.  Amends Section 2155.062, Government Code, by adding
Subsection (e) to require the Texas Building and Procurement Commission to
comply with Section 2054.114 in purchasing software. 

SECTION  5.  Amends Section 2157.003, Government Code, to make a
conforming change. 

SECTION  6.  Amends Sections 2157.068(a) and (e), Government Code,  to
make conforming changes and to provide that any rules adopted under this
section are required to comply with Section 2054.114. 

 SECTION  7.  Amends Section 2157.125(c), Government Code, to make a
conforming change. 

SECTION  8.  Amends Section 2177.051, Government Code, to require a
software procurement contract under this section to comply with Section
2054.114. 

SECTION  9.  Amends Section 487.303, Government Code, to require the
purchase of software under this section to be made in compliance with
Section 2054.114. 

SECTION  10.  Amends Section 531.0273(e), Government Code, to make a
conforming change. 

SECTION  11.  Effective date:  January 1, 2004.
    Makes application of this Act prospective to January 1, 2004.