SF 3133

3rd Engrossment - 90th Legislature (2017 - 2018) Posted on 03/23/2018 04:21pm

A bill for an act
relating to public safety; requiring the legislative auditor to appoint an information
technology auditor to conduct an assessment of MNLARS; establishing a MNLARS
steering committee; appropriating money.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AUDITOR; MNLARS ASSESSMENTS.

Subdivision 1.

Appointment.

The legislative auditor must appoint an information
technology auditor to actively monitor and report on the development and implementation
of the Minnesota Licensing and Registration System (MNLARS). At a minimum, the person
appointed to this position must have expertise in .NET coding.

Subd. 2.

Duties.

(a) The information technology auditor must conduct an assessment of
MNLARS. The assessment must be provided to the MNLARS Steering Committee upon
completion. At a minimum, the assessment must include:

(1) a technical assessment of the MNLARS system;

(2) an assessment of the feasibility of the MNLARS Project Roadmap proposed in
January 2018, and any new or updated project roadmaps;

(3) an assessment of estimated funding needs for the continued development, operations,
and maintenance of the MNLARS system; and

(4) an assessment of process changes and business flows for auto dealers and deputy
registrars.

(b) The information technology auditor must make quarterly reports to the MNLARS
Steering Committee, established in section 2, on:

(1) whether the commissioner of public safety and the chief information officer are in
compliance with the plans required in section 2, subdivision 4; and

(2) whether the commissioner of public safety and the chief information officer are
meeting the deadlines and performance measures in the timeline required in section 2,
subdivision 4.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective the day following final enactment.

Sec. 2. MNLARS STEERING COMMITTEE; QUARTERLY FUNDING REVIEW.

Subdivision 1.

Definitions.

(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have
the meanings given.

(b) "Committee" means the MNLARS Steering Committee established in this section.

(c) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of management and budget or the
commissioner's designee.

(d) "MNLARS" means the Minnesota Licensing and Registration System developed by
the Department of Public Safety and the Office of MN.IT Services.

(e) "Information technology auditor" means the individual appointed by the legislative
auditor pursuant to section 1, subdivision 1.

(f) "Quarter" means a three-month period starting on July 1, October 1, January 1, and
April 1, in fiscal year 2019.

Subd. 2.

Meetings.

(a) The senate chair of the committee with jurisdiction over
transportation finance must convene the initial meeting of the committee by May 1, 2018.

(b) The chairs of the house of representatives and senate committees with jurisdiction
over transportation finance serve as cochairs of the committee.

(c) The committee must meet, at a minimum, once each quarter. The committee must
review the report from the information technology auditor.

(d) The committee is subject to Minnesota Statutes, section 3.055, except that a member
may vote by submitting a written statement indicating what recommendation the member
makes, as provided in subdivision 5. This written statement must be treated in the same
manner as the votes of the members present at the meeting. The notice must be submitted
to all members prior to the start of the meeting where the vote will take place.

(e) The Legislative Coordinating Commission must provide meeting space and
administrative services for the committee.

Subd. 3.

MNLARS Steering Committee.

(a) The committee is made up of the following
members:

(1) the senate majority leader, or a senator appointed by the majority leader;

(2) the chair and ranking minority member of the senate committee with jurisdiction
over transportation finance;

(3) the speaker of the house of representatives, or a member of the house of
representatives appointed by the speaker; and

(4) the chair and ranking minority member of the house of representatives committee
with jurisdiction over transportation finance.

Subd. 4.

Plans; timeline; performance measures; reports.

(a) By May 15, 2018, the
commissioner of public safety and the state chief information officer must submit to the
committee:

(1) a proposed progress timeline for the development and implementation of MNLARS
that includes specific deadlines and performance measures that must be met quarterly;

(2) a plan for user acceptance testing, including metropolitan and out-state deputy
registrars and auto dealers, to the extent such testing is deemed feasible by the Minnesota
Deputy Registrar's Association and the Minnesota Automobile Dealer's Association;

(3) a plan for system stakeholder input on code releases to the MNLARS system;

(4) a proposed communications plan for transparent reporting on outages and slowdowns
to system stakeholders, including how to provide timely information in a usable format,
actions taken in response to communication, and responses from the Department of Public
Safety and the Office of MN.IT Services;

(5) a proposed communications plan for postrelease reporting on features and fixes to
system stakeholders; and

(6) a proposed plan for creating greater efficiencies and streamlining the vehicle title
process to reduce the current backlog and to minimize any future backlogs.

(b) At a minimum, the performance measures required in the timeline must provide
specific metrics to monitor MNLARS development and implementation activities, including
measures of:

(1) the extent to which MNLARS defects have been resolved;

(2) the extent to which gaps in MNLARS functionality have been resolved;

(3) improvements in the ability of MNLARS users to edit transactions;

(4) reduction in the backlog of vehicle titles;

(5) the extent of errors in driver or vehicle transactions;

(6) system performance, including the extent of any slowdowns, outages, or other system
performance issues; and

(7) customer service responsiveness, which may include the number of phone calls and
e-mails from the general public and stakeholders, and the timeliness of inquiry responses.

(c) The committee must review the proposed timeline and plans. The committee may
request that the commissioner of public safety and the state chief information officer make
changes to the timeline and plans. By June 1, 2018, the committee must approve a timeline
and plans. The cochairs must transmit copies of the timeline and plans to the information
technology auditor.

(d) Between 20 and 30 days before the start of each quarter, the commissioner of public
safety and the state chief information officer must each submit a report to the committee
on the progress of the performance measures identified in paragraph (b). Between 20 and
30 days before the start of each quarter, the Minnesota Deputy Registrar's Association and
the Minnesota Automobile Dealer's Association are each encouraged to submit a report to
the committee on the progress of the relevant performance measures identified in paragraph
(b).

Subd. 5.

Review of MNLARS appropriation.

(a) Funds appropriated to the Department
of Public Safety for MNLARS are divided into four equal quarters. The commissioner must
allot a quarter of the funds on July 1, October 1, January 1, and April 1, unless directed
otherwise by the committee as provided in this section. Twenty days prior to the start of a
quarter, the commissioner must submit the proposed funding allotment to the members of
the committee for review and recommendation. The commissioner of public safety and the
state chief information officer must provide information to the committee to enable the
committee members to determine whether the deadlines and performance measures have
been met for the quarter. The committee members have 20 days from the receipt of the
proposal to determine whether the Department of Public Safety and the Office of MN.IT
Services have met the deadlines and performance measures established in subdivision 4. If
no recommendation is made during the 20-day review period, the commissioner may allot
the quarterly funds to the Department of Public Safety for MNLARS. If a majority of the
committee members make a negative recommendation based on the failure to meet deadlines
or performance measures or recommend further review to determine whether deadlines and
performance measures have been met during the 20-day review period, the committee may
defer all future payments, slow the next allotment, or condition the next allotment.
Accordingly, the commissioner must defer, slow, or condition the quarterly funds to the
Department of Public Safety for MNLARS.

(b) A committee member, by written notice to the commissioner, may withdraw a
negative recommendation or a recommendation for further review within 20 days of making
the recommendation. If a majority of members make a negative recommendation or a
recommendation for further review, but members subsequently withdraw recommendations
under this paragraph so that three or fewer recommendations remain, the commissioner
may allot the quarterly funds to the Department of Public Safety for MNLARS.

(c) If a quarterly allotment is not made pursuant to paragraph (a), the commissioner must
allot to the Department of Public Safety an amount sufficient to fund an additional 30 days
for contracted technical staff working on MNLARS. If negative recommendations or
recommendations for further review are withdrawn pursuant to paragraph (b) after the partial
allotment is made under this paragraph, the commissioner must allot the remainder of the
quarterly allotment.

Subd. 6.

Resubmission of proposal.

If a proposed allotment receives a negative
recommendation or a recommendation for further review under subdivision 3, and all of
the negative recommendations and recommendations for further review are not withdrawn,
the commissioner may submit proposed legislation to the chairs of the house of
representatives Ways and Means Committee and the senate Finance Committee for
consideration during the 2019 legislative session.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective the day following final enactment and
applies to any fiscal year 2019 appropriation for MNLARS in this act or any subsequent
act.

Sec. 3. APPROPRIATIONS.

(a) $9,650,000 in fiscal year 2018 is appropriated from the special revenue fund to the
commissioner of public safety for contracted technical staff and technical costs related to
the continued development and improvement of the Minnesota Licensing and Registration
System (MNLARS). Of this amount, $2,150,000 is from the vehicle services operating
account and $7,500,000 is from the driver services operating account. These are onetime
appropriations.

The appropriation in this paragraph may be expended only for:

(1) contracts for the performance of software development on the vehicle services
component of MNLARS; and

(2) technology costs.

The appropriation in this paragraph must not be spent on:

(1) additional full or part-time employees employed by the Department of Public Safety;
or

(2) an audit, evaluation, or assessment of the feasibility of a proposed plan to resolve
defects and implement all functionality conducted by the Department of Public Safety or
the Office of MN.IT Services or an entity hired by the Department of Public Safety or the
Office of MN.IT Services.

(b) $100,000 in fiscal year 2018 and $250,000 in fiscal year 2019 are appropriated to
the Office of the Legislative Auditor from the vehicle services operating account in the
special revenue fund for the information technology auditor position established in section
1. This is a onetime appropriation.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective the day following final enactment.