The legislature’s Joint Technology Committee successfully referred one bill to the General Assembly in 2020 and prioritized $8.1 million for capital projects, the committee’s annual report describes.

The committee, which studies and prioritizes state agencies’ budget requests related to information technology, recommended two bills in the past year. Senate Bill 183 modified the definition of “state agency” for the Statewide Internet Portal Authority. Senate Bill 198, which would have allowed the state’s chief information officer to hire technology experts, died in May.

There were 16 IT capital budget requests amounting to $36.2 million that the committee designated for prioritization. However, the Joint Budget Committee, which reviews the technology committee’s output, only approved three budget requests that totaled approximately $8.1 million. Those included $4.4 million for a health IT roadmap initiative, $1.6 million for a newborn screening laboratory information management system, and $2.1 million for the Colorado Crime Information Center’s system migration.

The committee also received updates on major, active IT projects, including an offender management, health records and post-incarceration system within the Department of Corrections named DeCORuM; a replacement of the state’s human resources and payroll system; and a “transformation project” for the Colorado Benefits Management System, which determines eligibility for various government assistance programs.