A. The CIO shall develop policies, standards, and guidelines for the procurement of information technology of every description.
1. Information technology shall be procured by (i) VITA for its own benefit or on behalf of other executive branch agencies or (ii) such other agencies to the extent authorized by VITA. Such procurements shall be made in accordance with the Virginia Public Procurement Act (§ 2.2-4300 et seq.), regulations that implement the electronic and information technology accessibility standards of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. § 794d), as amended, and any regulations, policies, procedures, standards, and guidelines of VITA. In no case shall such procurements exceed the requirements of the regulations that implement the electronic and information technology accessibility standards of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.
2. The CIO shall review, and approve or disapprove, all executive branch agency procurements of information technology, including approval of all agreements and contracts prior to the execution of the procurement. The CIO may exempt from review requirements, but not from the Commonwealth’s competitive procurement process, any executive branch agency that establishes, to the satisfaction of the CIO, (i) its ability and willingness to administer efficiently and effectively the procurement of information technology or (ii) that it has been subjected to another review process coordinated through or approved by the CIO.
3. The CIO shall develop and administer a system to monitor and evaluate executed information technology contracts and billing and collection systems.The CIO shall disapprove any procurement that does not conform to the Commonwealth strategic plan for information technology developed and approved pursuant to subdivision A 3 of § 2.2-2007.1 or to the individual strategic plans of executive branch agencies developed and approved pursuant to § 2.2-2014.
4. The CIO shall require that before any executive branch agency procures any computer system, equipment, or software, it shall consider whether the proposed system, equipment, or software is capable of producing products that facilitate the rights of the public to access public records under the Freedom of Information Act (§ 2.2-3700 et seq.) or other applicable law.
C. All statewide contracts and agreements made and entered into by VITA for the purchase of information technology shall provide for the inclusion of counties, cities, and towns in such contracts and agreements. Counties, cities, and towns and local school divisions are authorized to purchase information technology goods and services of every description from VITA and its vendors, provided that such purchases are not prohibited by the terms of contracts for such goods and services. Notwithstanding the provisions of § 2.2-4302.1, 2.2-4302.2, 2.2-4303.1, or 2.2-4303.2, VITA may enter into multiple vendor contracts for the referenced services, facilities, and goods and services.
D. VITA may establish contracts for the purchase of personal computers and related devices by licensed teachers employed in a full-time teaching capacity in Virginia public schools or in state educational facilities for use outside the classroom. The computers and related devices shall not be purchased with public funds, but shall be paid for and owned by teachers individually provided that no more than one such computer and related device per year shall be so purchased.
E. If VITA, or any executive branch agency authorized by VITA, elects to procure personal computers and related peripheral equipment pursuant to any type of blanket purchasing arrangement under which public bodies, as defined in § 2.2-4301, may purchase such goods from any vendor following competitive procurement but without the conduct of an individual procurement by or for the using agency or institution, it shall establish performance-based specifications for the selection of equipment. Establishment of such contracts shall emphasize performance criteria including price, quality, and delivery without regard to “brand name.” All vendors meeting the Commonwealth’s performance requirements shall be afforded the opportunity to compete for such contracts.
F. VITA shall allow private institutions of higher education that are (i)(a) chartered in Virginia or (b) chartered by an Act of Congress in 1821 and that have owned and operated since 1991 a campus with a significant presence in the Commonwealth and (ii) granted tax-exempt status under § 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code to purchase directly from contracts established for state agencies and public bodies by VITA.
G. This section shall not be construed or applied so as to infringe upon, in any manner, the responsibilities for accounting systems assigned to the Comptroller under § 2.2-803.
H. The Comptroller shall not issue any warrant upon any voucher issued by an executive branch agency covering the purchase of any information technology when such purchases are made in violation of any provision of this chapter or the Virginia Public Procurement Act (§ 2.2-4300 et seq.).
I. Intentional violations of centralized purchasing requirements for information technology pursuant to this chapter by an executive branch agency, continued after notice from the Governor to desist, shall constitute malfeasance in office and shall subject the officer responsible for the violation to suspension or removal from office, as may be provided in law in other cases of malfeasance.
History
1984, c. 746, §§ 2.1-563.16, 2.1-563.17, 2.1-563.18; 1985, c. 265; 1995, c. 357; 1997, c. 858; 1999, cc. 412, 421, 433; 2001, c. 844, § 2.2-1303; 2002, c. 579; 2003, cc. 352, 895, 981, 1021; 2004, cc. 237, 278; 2007, c. 630; 2010, cc. 136, 145; 2011, c. 739; 2012, cc. 803, 835; 2013, c. 583; 2014, cc. 36, 180; 2015, cc. 462, 760, 768, 776; 2016, c. 296.
