Minnesota Session Laws - 2019, Regular Session

CHAPTER 1--H.F.No. 861

An act

relating to transportation; appropriating money for the Minnesota Licensing and Registration System (MNLARS) and Driver and Vehicle Services; requiring a report.

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

Section 1.

new text begin DEFICIENCY FUNDING FOR MNLARS AND DRIVER'S LICENSE SYSTEM; APPROPRIATION. new text end

new text begin (a) $11,200,000 in fiscal year 2019 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner of public safety for the continued development and improvement of the Minnesota Licensing and Registration System (MNLARS) and the Driver's License System. Of this amount: (1) $5,500,000 is for Phase 2 of the Driver's License System development and implementation, contracting staff and technology costs; and (2) $5,700,000 is for Minnesota Licensing and Registration System development, technology costs, contracts, MNLARS development contractors, MNLARS data and tools contractors, business analysts, and user acceptance testers. This is a onetime appropriation and is available until June 30, 2020. This appropriation must not be used for the public information center or for other similar customer service functions. new text end

new text begin (b) The appropriation in paragraph (a) is not subject to the appropriation review procedure required by Laws 2018, chapter 101, section 4, subdivision 5. new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment. new text end

Sec. 2.

new text begin DEFICIENCY FUNDING FOR DVS; APPROPRIATION. new text end

new text begin (a) $2,000,000 in fiscal year 2019 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner of public safety to temporarily increase the capacity of Driver and Vehicle Services to meet the customer service levels needs of business partners and the public. This appropriation is only for work performed or expenses incurred on or before June 30, 2019. This appropriation must be spent to hire temporary or contract employees and equipment and space for these employees. This appropriation must not be spent for permanent state employees. new text end

new text begin (b) This is a onetime appropriation and is available until June 30, 2019. new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment. new text end

Sec. 3.

new text begin QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORTS. new text end

new text begin As part of the quarterly progress reports required by Laws 2018, chapter 101, section 2, subdivision 3, the commissioner of public safety and the state chief information officer must report on how the appropriations in sections 1 and 2 have been spent and the plans for how the remaining funds will be spent. The report must include detailed explanation of how the funds were spent, including a line-item breakdown of costs. new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment. new text end

Sec. 4.

new text begin INDEPENDENT EXPERT REVIEW OF MNLARS; APPROPRIATION. new text end

new text begin (a) Notwithstanding Minnesota Statutes, chapter 16C, or any law to the contrary, the chair of the Governor's Blue Ribbon Council on Information Technology, established by Executive Order 19-02, must conduct a review of MNLARS as provided by this section. The chair may select two additional people to assist the chair in conducting the review. The commissioner of public safety and the state chief information officer must provide access to MNLARS, including the code, and provide any requested information to the chair. new text end

new text begin (b) By May 1, 2019, the chair must, at a minimum: new text end

new text begin (1) render an independent expert's opinion on: new text end

new text begin (i) whether DPS and MN.IT have the necessary technology, software development processes, and staffing plans to correct all current critical, high, and medium defects and gaps, as identified by external end users, that do not require major architectural changes to MNLARS by the end of calendar year 2019; new text end

new text begin (ii) whether DPS and MN.IT have the necessary technology, software development processes, and staffing plans to fulfill all required back end work, including decommissioning of the legacy system by the end of fiscal year 2021, given full development, operating, and maintenance funding as proposed in the governor's February 2019 budget; new text end

new text begin (iii) whether DPS and MN.IT are poised to successfully deliver all project deliverables on time and on budget by the end of fiscal year 2021; and new text end

new text begin (iv) whether DPS and MN.IT would, or would not, be more apt to succeed in meeting project deliverables and timeframes, within the funding as proposed in the governor's February 2019 budget, by adopting a commercial off-the-shelf software solution or an outsourced service to replace all or part of the MNLARS functionality; new text end

new text begin (2) produce a detailed report of the chair's findings, recommendations, and opinions, including recommendations on whether to outsource all or parts of MNLARS functionality based on information provided pursuant to paragraph (a) and received from private sector entities; and new text end

new text begin (3) provide the report in clause (2) to the chairs and ranking minority members of the house of representatives and senate committees with jurisdiction over transportation finance and policy. This report must also be provided to the legislative auditor. new text end

new text begin (c) $100,000 is appropriated in fiscal year 2019 from the general fund to the legislative auditor to compensate the chair and the two people appointed by the chair, including reimbursement for expenses, for work completed pursuant to paragraph (a). This is a onetime appropriation. new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment. new text end

Presented to the governor March 5, 2019

Signed by the governor March 5, 2019, 9:42 a.m.