JTC reviews IT project list, flags cost and fund-balance concerns for multiple agency requests

The Joint Technology Committee on Feb. 5 reviewed a list of IT and modernization projects submitted by state agencies, heard agency and staff explanations of revised requests, and flagged funding and prioritization questions the committee said it will resolve before its Feb. 15 deadline.

Samantha Falco of Legislative Council staff opened the non-departmental portion of the agenda. She said Western Colorado reduced its digital ID security and access project from an $8,100,000 single-phase request (including $7,800,000 in general funding) to about $4,300,000 by trimming the number of doors to be locked, mobile credential licenses, and security cameras. "They decreased the original amount down to 4,300,000.0," Falco said.

Falco described the reimagined Colorado benefits eligibility work (formerly CBMS) as reorganized into three projects. Committee members stressed that county-level work supporting clients must continue during redesign; Senator Bazely and Representative Titone urged the department and JTC to ensure any redesign supports ongoing county operations.

The committee also discussed COSHI, a long-running social health information exchange project. Madam Chair noted the state has already spent about $19,100,000 and mentioned a remaining ask of roughly $4,000,000 to reach an estimated $23,000,000 project total; committee members cited the project's substantial federal funding and the state's CMS approval in support of finishing the work.

Falco walked through multiple cash-funded projects: a public safety records upgrade, a DPA statewide procurement system, and the Division of Workers' Compensation's CoComp replacement (phase 3) with a $10,000,000 cash-fund request. Committee members asked for clearer fund-balance and contingency explanations, particularly for supplier database funds and workers' compensation sub-funds previously used in budget sweeps.

DPA's proposed statewide Human Resources Information System drew pointed questions. Falco said the department requested a $1,000,000 study as phase 1 of a project listed at $64,631,622 in the materials. Representative Titone and others pressed for a cost-benefit analysis before approving a study and questioned the specificity of large total estimates without detailed planning: "I struggle to move forward with $1,000,000 study on a $65,000,000 project in the situation we're in," the Chair said.

Madam Chair raised a funding concern for the CDPHE facilities and EMS modernization budget amendment, which would draw from the general licensure cash fund and the home care cash fund. She noted the home care fund's balance would fall from $1,500,000 to $382,000 next year and $176,000 the following year if the project is approved, and asked for written detail on what those funds currently support and contingency plans if draining the funds reduces support for other services.

Senator Bazely flagged discrepancies between OSPB prioritization and higher education's rankings for some projects and asked staff to request a rationale from OSPB. The committee set a 7:30 a.m. meeting next Wednesday to continue prioritization and adjourned to go to the floor.

Next steps: staff will provide additional fund-balance and cost-benefit materials; the committee will reconvene next week for final prioritization work.