ALC-Review

We have our Hammer now we get started. We'll call review committee to order Uh we're going to do something a little different this morning the First item on today's agenda is a is a draft proposal request from the secretary of state for a New electronic Campaign reporting system so card if you want to come on up and and we'll have a review of this proposal it's not absolutely necessary we we don't necessarily approve it the secretary of state's office doesn't have to go by the same person procedures we do but I want to present this yes for our information and we have some questions afterwards so you're recognized yourself for the record and and you can begin your presentation. Thank you Mr chairman name is Kurt Nauman with the secretary of state's office legislative affairs team. Michael Harian the attorney for the legislative affairs you're recognized to present. Thank you so much and I appreciate the opportunity to be here today to give you a little bit more information about what we're doing and secretary's office with a campaign contribution expenditures system and as many of you may recall late last session there was an act that was passed by Senator Johnson act number ten twenty nine which instructed the secretary of state's office to revisit the campaign contribution and expenditure software system and to upgraded and what we have done in the interim as we've done some research on what other states are doing and also have reached out to some perspective vendors on what the parameters of such a system would be and we put together an R. S. T. that is a draft RFP now we anticipate that we will be sending this out for bids next month and what we wanted to do was to provide you a copy of this R. F. P. sent you or very concerned users of the system we wanted you to be able to look at the technical specifications that we have put into the R. F. P. and make any suggestions comments or many criteria that you would like to see in here we've distributed this spoke to senator Johnson's senator Clark who also approach this last session about putting together an R. S. T. and what we're gonna do is just leave this on the table for you believe you have copies that have been submitted to you for a couple of weeks and to entertain any comments or suggestions that you would like for us to put into the system just also to give you a little bit of an update we do have an appropriation for what a new system would cost to do the upgrade but we do not have funding so the way that the process and the time table would be is that we would finalize the R. S. the issue it sometime in December evaluate the bids hopefully make an award of contract at that point concurrently come back before peer and respectfully ask for money for the new system and or maybe an additional staff for to be able to full time. Provide user support because that was another issue that we had received a lot of comments on the sides the the clunky ness of the current system also to provide enhanced user support due to the stringent deadlines of the filing so ACT ten twenty nine instructed us to be able to provide back to the legislature the technical specs for the new system which is the R. itself and also the time frame which I just laid out before you sell it unless you have any questions for me that's all that I wanted to provide to you today okay. C. one question Representative failing. Thank you Mr chairman on the news on the new system. It for or is it gonna be more competitive frowned at that number than one exist and now. I certainly hope so due to you couldn't be any less computer friendly I'll put it that way but that is that is going to be the the priority concern that we have all right thank you thank you Mr chairman. Senator Elliot you're recognized. Thank you Mr chair did you over time out collect the concerns that legislators and others have had was trying to file and that's where you're getting the information part of the information in your request for proposals we have some what we call help tickets from the current vendor that shows some of the issues that they worked on and we've come to maintain an anecdotal list of that as opposed to a system that actually catalogs that so we know what the the major concerns are and the the most frequently occurring areas and we have since the act in twenty nine was passed we have worked with our current vendor to alleviate some of those issues I know one of the issues was if someone contributed save twenty five dollars this quarter and which is below the threshold and then fifty dollars the next quarter that it with the system was having a hard time reconciling those two numbers that's been that's been corrected there's been another it areas for as default values not being realistic instead of saying Arkansas for word donors location was it might say main things like that have been taken care of but there are some other things the the user friendliness of it is going to be really looked at a sports aggregate reports being able to have numbers that don't result in deficit numbers but yes are we if we take into account a lot of those concerns and they are yeah I for something more serious like I had this this happened and I had acts I'd files and if in the previous period and then when I went back to file in the new period I couldn't get any further than opening the website because it kept telling me I have not filed in the previous period so somebody went in manually checked and indeed I had I although they had made the results are things like that something like that might be addressed or is this the first time you're hearing it and if it is it's an issue of it will be addressed as a matter of fact the way that the process is now with the R. F. P. there's going to be a certain period of time where one of the vendors that we have talked to talked about developing case histories which would be on those instances where things have gone awry and to be able to or less work through that as they're building it so we set up a fail scenario Service speak and we see how it is designed and how it would be implemented with the new system to ensure that that error does not occur again before it's launched a note here that December fifteenth of this twenty twenty one that's the deadline for submitting any questions or suggestions is that that's kinda what we're suggesting right now so that we can get this out before the end of the year what we would like to do is. Any any of your other colleagues any other users that are not legislators we would be happy to get any suggestions or concerns that we can put into the are at the and then send it out for thirty days and then anyone who is interested after that time that would like to be part of the process of working with the selected vendor we'd be more than happy to entertain entertain any volunteers for that also all right thank you thank you Mr thank you. Senator Hammer you're recognized thank you Mr. So the current proposal for how we're going to go about doing this is we're going to submit what we think are the ideas that would work best taken our past experiences and whoever is awarded the contract is going to build the system around those concepts is that right pretty much so it's it to senator Hammer it's it in the R. F. P. there is about a four five page laundry list of all of the technical specifications in regard to everything from. The used password you user name information to what kind of reports are going to be generated to what kind of information is going to be solicited all of the reports now all the forms that are currently utilized for data entry we want to make sure that all of the information from passed a law that is required is into the system and that the sentence just skews me the system functions as you would like to see it as far as being able to be transparent run reports post data amend reports I know that's an issue that's come up before too so if you could look through those specifications and either make clarifications additions maybe star areas that you think are going to be the highest priorities will make sure that we get the RST tailored to those needs follow Mr sure thanks So is there are there companies out there now that already have a proven track record and I know each state has a little bit of variance in their election laws that might make you need. But is there gonna be preferential treatment that's given in the R. P. for company that already has a successful track record that we're going to not have to reinvent the wheel or be back here in two years having to address how are you going to handle that based on what procurement allows. The when we did our research into what other states vendors or we found that most states have kind of a bifurcated approach which was the development of a system in the house through a third party vendor there's not a lot of uh companies out there that do this type of a system designed there are few and we've reached out to those the company that does the most by states is our current vendor all the school is that for you right now but there are three or four other national vendors that we do have on our radar screen some we've talked with already some we will have some presentations and demos coming up there's also a couple of in state firms that it expressed interest in doing this they do not have the track record of having done this for such a big scale for campaign contribution expenditures but they've done it for other types of governmental services for example like land records so. There is a very small select number of companies that do this we put it in the specifications that that's going to be a review criteria is gonna be scored fairly heavily as far as the scope of similar matter okay all right that's what everyone here thank you thank you Mr. Senator Rapert you're recognized thank you and I may have missed because it got into a little bit like. You do have a list of some of the problems it. We have a pretty that got that most are you saying you're welcoming others of for the R. the G. that'll a list that and it's a little bit surprising to me that that there is not a system out there from another state maybe that. Doesn't have a. Textbook to be the right thing so It is or is not a state the that seems a lot at pretty good now we looked at we reached out to every state and ask them who are your current who is your current vendor at this point in time the vendor that we currently have was by for the most frequently used vendor for this system there were a few others that did Either whole states or in the case of Georgia there was a vendor that didn't do it for the state of Georgia but it did it for a majority of their counties including Fulton County in Atlanta so they have experience on a big scale but most of the most of the states have decided to do this is an internal IT project with just hiring consultants and and kind of working with them on a case by case basis but the way we've written the R. F. P. is that it leaves it open to both types of vendors okay create your first thing thank you. I have a question if if this is the most used process that we're using now most states or use that is the exact same version to their various I'm glad you asked that question the current system that we have now was procured five years ago and a lot of technology has changed in the last five years the system that they're proposing to designed for us is a a much more enhanced system and it's taken into account a lot of the the. Bacteria that we have in our RST that we would like to see in the new system I have not seen a demo but other members of our staff have and they said they were they were encouraged that that it was a much improved system from the current one that we do have. Sir Clark you're recognized thank you Mr. In the those that are going to the scoring as someone who's bought the software and hardware systems for. A long time. Of. Is this going to be something where people present what it's supposed to do or where there. Actually able to use the system and know that it usable because US one the huge things usability that that's not in the current system. A senator Clark the way that the R. F. P. scoring will be done is that it's going to be kind of a a bifurcated process one is going to be the formal response documentation that they send to us that gives us everything from examples of systems that they have that we can look at and walk through to recommendations from other states other entities that they work for the team work the type of technology that they would put into the system and then also what we would do is that we would have them come in for presentations that they would give us orally and visually so that they can maybe walk through a particular system what's going to be a little difficult here is that a lot of what we're gonna requires going to have to be custom made so we couldn't see a system that would be. Generally replicable in the state but it would be of similar character nature but we can see their work yes Sir we definitely want to make sure that their the that the system that they have is is something that we they can walk through us very easily and show us where how and when it would fit in with Arkansas criteria we have people doing the scoring that understand of. What can be done. Right now we don't have the scoring team made but it will definitely involve members of our elections staff probably or elections director and the person who right now is in charge of the filings for candidates. Okay let's. That's no guarantee that you have a person who actually knows. What's. The functional functionality of software and and how easy things ought to work. Our except for our information technology director is also been engaged in the process and he he and any recommendations that he has for people who would be experienced in the technological aspects of it would certainly be welcome to join in the evaluation process I just my two cents I think it's extremely important that we have at least one person that really. Understands. The software side the use of the user side. How it how it functions you know if we have to get a nine year old but but of a priest appreciate what you're trying to do we will certainly take that into account. Representative right you're recognized. Thank you Mr chairman do you have an idea about by broad timeline for implementation I I I assume we're not going to switch software system here in the middle of an election cycle that will wait till a new cycle to implement that or what what's the what is it what is the thinking they're currently absolutely I think lessons learned from the last time it was done in the middle of an election cycle and was very traumatic for a lot of people both on our end and on your into so the way that we wrote the R. F. P. is that assuming we can get funding in January to February the build outs probably going to be forty weeks or so and that it would not actually be launched until after the November twenty twenty two election. Anymore questions. Okay we appreciate the presentation I thank everybody looks forward to a better system thank you Mr members of the committee will keep you informed okay. Before we begin with the regular agenda when we have a request for suspension of the rules on a MOF for a issue Newport so I'll take a motion for suspension of. I have a motion the second second all in favor say aye. Any does not a. Passes. Okay will I begin. With their methods of finance thank you Mr chairman of the methods as finance beginning packet B. the first thing is the letter from a DFA for the methods of finance that they're sending over for review this month to have been pulled by agency I'll point those out when I get to him on the next page is the chart with the methods of finance the first one is the division of correction out this is for an ionization project for air sanitizing upgrade two point eight million dollars the I know that they have special revenue to cover that then you have a issue Mountain Home FOR a walking trail this project is for a one point seven mile walking biking trail in the main campus of a issue Mountain Home that is eight hundred forty five thousand dollars they have institution reserves a issue Foundation transfers as well as are not grant to cover that expense they issue Newport has been pulled and that will be one of the items in the supplemental agenda that will take up number four is East Arkansas Community College for roofs the critical maintenance projects and this is two hundred sixty one thousand to thirty four fourteen the revised method of finance they have general improvement funds of as well as some cash funds for that East Arkansas Community College student welcome center the project is to rehabilitate the former main building located on the former Crowley's Ridge of campus this is three point nine million dollars they have cash funds and state treasury funds for that number six has been pulled by the agency number seven on the next pages you a late bill for the John a wide engineering hall this is a project to restore the exterior in windows of the engineering hall three million one hundred thirty three thousand they have a a university bank funds as well as in a in C. R. C. grant to cover that. Then you have you a mess with the Chaudhry oral health renovations of six hundred ninety one thousand to fifty nine this is university reserves in revenues to fund that UCLA has air quality improvements seven point seven million dollars they know they have the federal funds from arpa for that and then you a community college baseball for IT infrastructure update this is for internet speed to ensure operational efficiency three hundred two thousand dollars of federal funds from arca for that project as well and then on your supplemental agenda that we did the suspension of the rules for you have a method of finance from a issue Newport of letter from a issue of from DFA there was some confusion with their original of MOF we pulled one but this is the one that was supposed to been on the agenda it's for our pet H. back conditions the upgrades for six hundred forty thousand dollars it too is federal funds room arca a hundred percent those are the methods of finance on today's agenda. Senator garner you're recognized thank you this is staff and and. Maybe two one agencies but basically what we're doing what this is before they make these changes to how the finance these projects we have to come to us for provable by state law is that a kind of correct assessment of what's going on yes Sir any project that doesn't come before the of budget hearings of all budget hearings for a capital project any of those projects that haven't come before the legislature there over two hundred fifty thousand dollars for land or our buildings has to come and just report how they plan on spending how they what funding they have available for that project and then as they get more funding they may revise it change it. That's right Mr chairman if its appropriate I'd like to have a representative from UAMS if available. We have someone here for. What state your name for the record. Mr chairman Michael Carrick with UAMS center guarding your rebate thank you Mr yes Sir based on the information we just got for staff I can appreciate that UAMS actually follow the procedure in state law that the state of Arkansas set up by coming before this body before they make a decision that affects either money or projects or employees is that a standard at UAMS usually follows where they follow a state law before they make a major major dramatic decision. Yes Sir so in your meeting that UAMS likes to follow state law as much as humanly possible. Yes Sir I'll be happy to try to answer specific questions if you have thank you so much. The Senator Stubblefield you're recognized thank you Mr chairman of the council this money that's going on number two the announcmenet home others walking trail how much of that money that it is coming from our dot. Is that matching funds. No Sir senator that would only be nine percent of that eight hundred forty five thousand dollars is from are not they have reserves that would cover sixty two percent of that and they have Foundation transfer of up for twenty nine percent so I don't have those figures broken out but it would be the are not grant is nine percent of eight hundred forty five thousand dollars. Seventy six thousand dollars no matching funds involved in any. there's no matching federal funding. In any of this no Sir. Institution reserves as well as a foundation funds. All right thank you thank you Mr chairman. Senator Clark you're recognized. Yes Mr up of. The. I would of like an explanation on the UAMS. Expenditure okay. If you would go ahead and state your name again please. Yes Sir Michael Carrick with you avis you're recognized. Just can you expects for and this to me so that I can understand. Yes Sir this is a renovation that is taking place in the Schori building we are renovating the space to add additional R. Pretorius which will allow more clinic space to see more patients additional classroom space that in addition to that additional office space. In this requires our approval Mr let's just a review distributed. Okay I guess is a good time to review it of. The. Under state law Mr we have to review this. Yes part of our responsibility and where is the proper place if anyone can answer of we've passed a law about vaccine mandates and government of bodies and institutions which I think you A. M. S. falls under and they had of a letter out. Yesterday of owned the vaccine mandates for the employees what I read it of. The. Where would be the proper venue for us to of. Look at that law and how the. The federal law and state law. We might have to have bill our staff to research that I'm not sure. Certain. Where to. Well we can check on that with with staff and say I would appreciate it okay. Thank you get. Senator Hammer you're recognized thank you sure can you tell me how much is in the university reserves right now. Senator Hammer I do not have that exact number for you I'd be happy to get it. Would you mind getting that and Mr try could they send it to staff to send out to the Committee members I'm a member of the committee but I'd like to get if you don't mind we can know how much is in university reserves. Okay we'll make a note of that follow up Mr sure the. However the reserves accumulated that are classified in the university reserves account. You senator that's a great question one that I'm not qualified to answer I'd be happy to get that answer for you and will provide a follow up to you and the entire Legislative Council. Did I get that before Friday because I am on a L. C. and I'll be vote on this on Friday so could we get that before Friday please yes Sir our thank you thank you Mr we'll make a note of that. Senator Garner you're recognized yes Sir I'm not a member's committee but I would love that information as well and since this is kind of the issue or get into the weeds of a versus a L. C. which is more packed meeting would it be appropriate for this committee to actually pass over this review and call you a mess once they have a clear picture of their finances moving forward especially in light of some of the CMS and other decisions at this institution is made in the near future would that be appropriate. The parties committee to have that further discussion next month. I would need a request from a member of. Okay. We'll hold this item for Friday then. I was on my yes. Senator Elliot you're recognized I thank you Mrs Mister chair I I would just like to have a clarification I guess from Senator Clark if he doesn't mind I will hold it because I I was following the conversation but I'm not sure which parts are connected so. Just a little barber what we're holding it. You're recognized. Answers to members questions central. I'm sorry we get answers to. Members question central okay and is there any in any particular subject or just answers in general there a lot of answers we need to have we'll Senator hammer had specific. Questions. The but yes so they're specific and there could be general. Yeah but the specific questions will affect of how we how we may vote. Okay but you what you want to hold it as well as get the questions of the I understand correctly hold it before we vote on it so this time okay thank you Mr. There was no more questions with the exception of automate these items will stand review. Mr chairman the next group of items on the agenda are grants discretionary grants in the first group comes from the department of health beginning impact IT zero one on page one grants numbers one three nine are all going to be the same they're all original grants to ensure equitable access to critical code nineteen personal protective equipment testing contact tracing quarantine and isolation back to the nations and other reference services that all help to mitigate the spread of COVID nineteen that Texas over to grant number ten on page four this is A breast feeding support program to improve maternal and child health through increased duration of breast feeding numbers eleven three these are all the states the same as well these are statewide hepatitis intervention services number fourteen. On page five is fourteen six two sixteen are all the same these are all for clinical social worker services and community health worker assistance in non locations for HIV positive or Kansans number seventeen three twenty these are all the same as well these are all grants amendments for reducing new HIV infections in Arkansas and that takes this through the grants for the health department under C. two you have Arkansas heritage and they have grants from the American rescue plan COVID nineteen relief grants these grants are funded from seven hundred eighty four thousand seven hundred dollars that they received for the Arkansas arts council for the a state partnership agreement with the national endowment for the arts and the American rescue plan these grants were made to different regional arts organizations for generating operating support to mitigate financial stress brought on by Kobe nineteen in its impact that had on staffing revenues and public programs they funded fifty for grants that were requested and the awards are up to fifteen thousand dollars each on the next few pages you'll see the organizations that received grants the type of organization they are the amount they requested and the amount they'll be receiving so those are the grants for the arts center of arts council and then see three on page twelve is a division of workforce services and this is a grant they have for Canada with children's advocacy centers of Arkansas it's a little over three point three nearly three point four million dollars and provide funding and support to children's advocacy centers of Arkansas for the development and expansion of the children's advocacy program the state has a responsibility to provide competent and thorough child maltreatment invest. Gates shins which are sensitive to the needs of children and families children and families and of C. A. C. A. serves victims and their families as well as expanding services in unreached areas within the state noting that to have their program helps prevent future victimization by ensuring that the child abuse investigations are comprehensive and inter of engine and healing services meet the needs of the children and those are all the grants on today's agenda. You saying no questions these items will stand reviewed. Mr chairman the next group of items we have our services contract in that's under D. on the first page is the letter from DFA Amy Thatcher has provided us with information about the contract they're being referred to this committee for review there are two contracts that are pointed out of there is one for the Arkansas department of health these are both these contracts are going to be under inter governmental and I'll provide more detail when I get to a but the one for the department of health is for clinical services from you a mess and it was not previously presented for legislative review they have a letter explaining the circumstances and then also the part of education has one and they were soliciting For an inter governmental contract but the entity that they were contracting with is not a governmental entity and so they didn't get the required number of quotes so both of these entities are asking for ratification and while pride provide you more details when we get to those contracts the rest of the contract so today's agenda they note seem to have been procured and no violation of Arkansas procurement. So we'll start with the. Again of. The first thing or the letters that I I've already review about and then we'll go to Page seven here's where we start the construction related contracts in the first one is for corrections department it's four of amendment to an existing contract for design services for the eighty SI recreational yards numbers two three four these are all going to be for DHS and they're all on call contracts for engineering and architectural services for their various facilities. Number five is natural resources commission. And of this is of a federal grant funds as well as some state funding that they're receiving there's a very detailed explanation however the. This is an all call contract for water and sewer systems and they identify the best way for our local systems become compliant and the actual amount is the amount that was awarded from the federal part of the funding so number six on the next page is you a fait it bill this is an amendment to the existing contract that they have a renovation of their chapel in Condit's structures as a result of the of receiving the final construction bids so this will be the close out on that project then you have number seven begin some contracts for you a M. S. the first one is to continue civil and structural engineering services on the campus this was part of the on call constitutes a civil is racial engineering contract number eight is an on call commissioning services contract and those are all of the construction related contracts on today's agenda. You saying no questions is will stand review. The next section due to begins on page ten this is the inter governmental contracts contracts between state agencies mark. I'm so sorry probably need that on of the next group is inter governmental contracts beginning on page ten contracts between state agencies the first one is Economic Development Commission with UAMS this will USMS will engage in principle oversight and implementation of broadband infrastructure construction awards to ISPs as designated by the Arkansas department of commerce. Number two of this is education department this is the one that we had the letter far previously that they're asking for ratification of the or mental health trainings this is as I noted a procured as inter governmental but it was not a government entity this is a non profit so that means that means that they did not obtain three quotes of prior to engaging in this contract and they're asking for ratification of that number three is the health department with UAMS. I'm sorry three is education department with UAMS to provide for the evaluation of improving student health and academic achievement group nutrition physical activity and management of chronic conditions and on the next page health department this is the other one that we received the letter on from I was P. this is the health department with UAMS and this is for another request for ratification to pay invoices owed by health to UAMS for services rendered providing data and technical support for the COVID nineteen pregnant women infants registry and they know that they're needing to ratify this due to incompetent development of no incomplete I'm sorry. I that was really a slip no questions. The development of the country. We're all listening in August the health department department determines that a demo IT was not process properly and should have been a services contract that was over the threshold for review but was not done that way and so in October they took the following course of action they halted all the services and they gained process for ratification including steps to avoid this happening in the future so that's the health department's contract number five on page eleven is UALR numbers five through ten are all going to be the same and these are all going to be for entrepreneurial and small business services of or assistance to them in small business and technology development centers. That Texas over to number eleven on page fourteen the final one under inter governmental this is work for services of this is far sampling of reemployment services eligible eligibility is assessments to determine the casual ratings of these intervention mentions and service delivery strategies performed by the state program and those are the inter governmental contracts. You saying no questions these will stand reviewed. Mr chairman the next group is out of state contracts DFA management is the first one beginning on page fifteen this is an amendment to an existing contract for their S. A. P. budget and planning implementation project number two DFA racing this is four ACT one canine drug testing kits and services. Number three D. F. is DTS ES building authority this is a contract that they have an amendment far for an armed security guard services at the six locations that they have in Little Rock and then on page four is one that Building Authority has for janitorial services at the B. G. Hendrix building in Fort Smith number five is education department for implementing ACT work keys assessment and ACT work keys curriculum number six is educational TV this is a contract amendment for providing computer science technology online courses to Arkansas educators the Arkansas ideals ideas portal maintained by Etienne number seven is Emergency Management for online training platform number eight is the health department for renewal of prescription drug monitoring program software system number nine is the health department with information management services this is a contract that was procured using SSJ which is sole source justification and so on pages one through six in your goldenrod packet of letters we had the letter from health department and they note that day of the IMS data management system is the only system compatible with what they're using and that will meet the requirements necessary for the funding at the receipt S. P. has approved that justification. On the next page is the health department for the nurse family partnerships of program and this is also a sole source justification the letters connected to this contractor on pages seven through eleven in the goldenrod packet and on this one The justification they note is that they've been working with this program and using this model for nursing home or nurse home visiting since two thousand eleven and it is the designated model for the federal grant so OSP again approved that justification number eleven is DHS this is an amendment to an existing contract to continue rate continue temporary employment services. number twelve is DHS and this is to continue job technology services or audit protective services advanced reporting. Number thirteen is DHS for continuing temporary employment services number fourteen DHS contract amendment for continued supervise independent living number fifteen a continuation of a Amendment for intensive in home services. Number sixteen on page twenty is DHS and this is far continuing statewide electronic benefit transfer services system for delivery of cash and supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits. Numbers seventeen through twenty one these are all going to be the same they're all for DHS of none of them add any additional money to the existing contract but these have to do with certified nursing assistants for their human development centers and the reason we're seeing these is they had to revise the scope to include all types of team or temporary nursing staff and the contract lane which was essential to allow flexibility of rate quotes due to the pandemic so we're seeing those I believe will also see another win over in state contracts for the same type of thing Next is number twenty two this is DHS with Magellan this is for Medicaid management information system pharmacy pharmacy agreement and number twenty three is DHS with S. H. I. this is for electronic visit verification system. On the next page twenty four is insurance department and this is an amendment to do want to note that on your hand out it shows that this amendment is incorrect it's it's supposed to be sixty thousand dollars is the same annual amount is what they've been adding each year I apologize the didn't catch it in time but I have corrected that on the report this is far purchase of workers compensation claims administration software system or administration of Arkansas state government employees workers compensation claims number twenty five is the sentencing commission and this is in preparing an annual report regarding compliance with the park jurors from standard including assistance in maintaining the database revising copies of the sentencing order and analyze the data from select you get shall district. On the next page twenty six as teacher retirement this is done is a special procurement and again S. P. has to weigh in on the special procurements the letters connected with this our own pages twelve through sixteen in the packet this is for institutional investment services and teacher retirement work with OSP to ensure to issue an RFP but received no offers and so teacher retirement is currently working with S. P. to re solicit but in the interim S. P. approved a special procurement until a new solicitation can be made number twenty seven as you a community college invites full and this is a contract for audio visual system upgrades you a fable has a contract there for continuation review services for the office of sponsored programs research administrative functions within the research and innovation office. Number twenty nine USA this is Securitas security services this is actually to provide security services for the A. S. M. SA the math and science campus in hot springs number thirty workforce services works with state call center managers call center for any application issues or questions number thirty one I work for services this one also is the computer rating cooperated to assist in developing and modifying mainframe programs and reports workforce services number thirty two for project management support for the new United system modernization for their unemployment insurance system and number thirty three work for services this is for funds in school funding in school after school and summer program for high poverty children and youth throughout the state those are the out of state contracts on today's agenda. President Cavenaugh you're recognized thank you Mr chair and this might be a question that Kathy can answer it's on page nineteen contract fifteen. And I noticed that this is for providing Four services include Sebastian Crawford in plastic counties but it's going to a youth villages Inc in Memphis Tennessee. I'm assuming that's just their main headquarters that they're not bringing people over to work in those counties yes ma'am okay thank you. Senator Elliot you're recognized. Thank you Mister chair I have a question for a teacher retirement please. If you would please state your name for the record. S. Clint Rhoden Arkansas teacher retirement system. Rod graves Arkansas teacher retirement system recognize Senator thank you Mr chair as as I read your the reason for sole source I'll just say how I see it and then if I'm wrong can fix of a member quicker so we put up we put out the R. if he got no responses and now we're in a position we really need to address the issues that would have been addressed through the R. F. P. we're going to that part harm somebody in the interim of another. A request that we're going to put out there at some point I is sin now that the assume part right at the end is where I'm concerned are we going to have another request for proposal. Seventy that is yes okay and then what have we learned in this first one that we didn't get anybody you know to respond rather something we're doing differently in the second one. I'll let I'll address Act answer first senator as far and as we give a details all that rot Care basically this is a you know we're looking for consultants for a for direct investments that Arkansas teacher retirement does it's a new service that we are adding to our list of vendors as a result of a legislative audit you know wanting to add a little extra layer of the do Sherri levels protection there the first time we we would probably rush the process and did leave the the RP RP open long enough and this time we also out in addition to having a longer period to leave it open we are actually advertising nationally as these this is the level of consulting that we will probably have to reach out nationally in order to provide and what was your reach out area in the initial one right if you want to so of yes center so nationally the or if he went out through the OSP website to and and I'm not sure exactly who all how that process works but that was the only venue so I think what we understand now is that if you weren't already sort of enrolled in that website would come have to actively be looking for those things so to try to to broaden the market to disclose to the director said we we have of advertises on on a national type of financial. industry website and hopefully have access to all of their users. Okay I'm Bonnie Mr Mister chair so as we take steps to employ this interim person do we have somebody in mind or are we going to advertise that as we normally do advertise for state employment rights the day the day to day I'll just go okay our. Right so so thank you senator the we've sort of gone through that process of this contract for your consideration today is with a group called global principal partners. staff contact the after after the R. P. was was unsuccessful in recognizing that there need to be a a stop gap or or some way to fill that void until the we could hope we can hopefully someday get a successful bid through this of this group was contacted that it It this group is familiar with a TRS I've worked with a TRS in the past on some projects and they agreed to do for a short period of time agreed to provide the service until such point in this contract that that's before you now is for six month period we hope that the R. F. P. will be completed will have a long term solution in place by then but so there has been somebody this contract is with for your consideration from you today is with that group. And well just one last thing I want to understand here because when we're gonna we hired this group. There is not a particular person with this group that we're gonna be hired that we have any control over we're just we're going to engage the group and they're going to provide us with a particular person that's going to work with us or we just send the group and I don't know what the group needs said like that. All right so right so the group is is a team of people there are a number of individuals on that team I don't know the exact size of the team but it's similar to other companies that we might contract with where it this is not one individual center this is a eighteen I'm not sure if that's that entered the question actually no but but what I was just trying to figure out since we need somebody specifically to work with us if we are going to be assigned to a particular person from the group our. Normally that seems like that would be a thing I would I would like to know that when I called global enterprises that a member who my calling I'm hoping not to get the somebody if the receptionist's desk and just get to somebody. I'd like to know somebody's designated to us it yes ma'am yes ma'am there or a a number of key contact points that we would use is is typical with with a lot of these companies they have they have teams of people that work on things in and for the agency perspective we typically have one or two what we would call the client relationship manager or the the client facing person so we we do have some names and numbers of specific individuals R. S. thank you thank you so much thanks Mr. Thank you John. Saying no more questions these items will stand for. Review. Mr chairman the next group are in state contracts and they begin on page twenty seven the first one is the corrections department and they have all. Increase funding due to increase in fuel parts and maintenance that's where they're aerial application services number two crime information system for the A. C. I. see mainframe system maintenance and support number three is or the sex offender registration system number four is the crime lab and they have a contract for could never transport services number five DF a racing this is a contract they have for counsel to the racing commission number six is the Department transportation transformation shared services has a janitorial contract for natural resources complex in Little Rock and then on number seven they also have a janitorial services contract for the crime lab in little rock number eight is Economic Development Commission of this is an amendment and this contract is for advertising in our marketing services for a variety of their unique needs number nine is education school for the blind this is for security guard services and then the next one education school for the deaf again there security guard services with the same entity. Number eleven is eighty Q. of the department of environmental quality for which are cleaning for cleaning contract for their headquarters number twelve is the health department this has to do with waste disposal services dealing with their public health lab number thirteen is DHS thirteen through nineteen these are all going to be the same they're all for conferences substance abuse treatment services for the various catchment areas. Number of that took us through to number nineteen number twenty is for food storage and distribution services or DHS number twenty one is for qualified residential treatment program services number twenty two is specialized private license placement agency number twenty three through twenty eight these are all going to be the same for DHS these are amendments to existing contracts for comprehensive residential treatment services. And that takes us over to. Of number twenty nine this is as far as security alarm system for all these C. O. offices number thirty and thirty one one of the same they're both for amendments for temporary nursing staff of this was the same as I pointed out in the out of state these are the in state providers adding no money but needing to adjust the language in their contract number thirty two of this is a contract with gain well technologies this is for the Arkansas Medicaid enterprise Medicaid manage ment information system this one was done as a special procurement it is pages seventeen through twenty two in your golden rod packet got gain will was formerly known as D. X. C. and I want to provide the information on this DHS received instructions to procure models within the Medicaid enterprise and and they say aye published a set of RFPs separating what once was a singular in my in my S. about one vendor into three different groups that's course services decision support management administrative report system and pharmacy we saw the pharmacy of contracted minute for that earlier on the agenda each category had their respective R. if P. and was awarded two separate and distinct vendors back in two thousand thirteen and fourteen now here we are seven years later DHS is made a substantial investment in getting work under way with these projects and they intend to begin competitive Kerr procurements for each of the E. F. systems a contract in a structured rollout timeline but they need time to do so in an orderly and planned fashion and the special procurements were authorized for. The three projects as a whole and this is the final contract in the OSP authorization letter I wanted to know that because the letters are from two thousand nineteen but it's because the other contracts were done during that time frame and this is the final one number thirty three is the insurance department this is for workers compensation managed care. Number thirty four is the military apartment for waste disposal services number thirty five is state police this is their contract for health plan administrative services for the A. at Arkansas state police health plan. Number thirty six are you a fable This Is pest control contract for the athletic department then you have you a with the powers of Arkansas this is facility management services or the math and science school of they monitor audio all of the facilities repaired maintenance equipment including H. back fire safety back up generation plumbing electrical and mechanical systems and they're chilled waters. Number thirty eight UALR the this is for H. back in drier duct services on an ad need is basis number thirty nine L. landscaping services for UALR campus number forty UALR and this is another contractor H. back and dryer that services and number forty one is for janitorial services for work for services or to capitol mall building those are the in state contracts on today's agenda. President Vaught you're recognized thank you Mr chair on page thirty eight a number thirty two it's the Human Services department. Somebody from Human Services. If you would state your name placed. Thank you Mr Clark what armed services. Jeff dean Department of Human Services you're recognized representative Paul thank you Mr chair so is this for one year. I believe so Williams Mr Dan confirm that the we put in the the total projected costs but it is a special procurements of anticipation is that we would have to come every year for extending that but the special procurement letter did granted for a a seven year period because of the complexity of the system and the length of time it takes to read it out all the services which which all ended at the same time okay so it sixty nine million eight hundred fifty five dollars for a year yes ma'am. So we ended the seven year contract and when we started the negotiations on that the increase year over year was actually closer to thirteen percent but we negotiated that down to five and a half percent and part of the things you will see because there was a multi year contemplation for that not not. For not coming to review but there is a year over year protection built and where that the increases going forward does not exceed two point two percent so we have some protection rolling forward until we do get a new are the up for the services. Okay can I have one more follow up sure I mean is this all a computer I mean is that what this is I mean is it just this is a services and a a technology contract so for example provider enrollment to provider services which all Medicaid providers have to go through a vetting process and its services to take care of those and then it is the the payment system which pays all Medicaid claims and everything so it's the compute and also the processing to make the payments and also the demanded starfighters if if I get out of that represent Vaught it's worse the only out the side it is a a massively complex IT system handles millions of claims for your Informatik eight but also includes multiple hundreds of employees to support that and also for those other functions like around provider role but some of the things. Okay thank you okay. Senator Chesterfield you're recognized. Thank you Mr chair in good afternoon are you this morning I am trying to figure out where I might find. The contracts with local providers is going to help us get out the utility and rental assistance where would I find that. For the demand for the worst of real systems. Well we have the current contract or vendor to Lloyd we're in the midst the contract now I know there's or have some discussions about next steps around that up there's nothing on today's agenda for that for that contracts so there's nothing there that says we're going to help employed by partnering with people in the community so we can get people in their homes and keep the actress Day from being cut off yeah what that we are working toward course they've been working in the committee based organizations are also work on some other initiatives we think were possible decisional local support in those committee or causation you are talking about paying those people for help and run yes ma'am all right thank you thank you miss your for your indulgence. Senator Hammer you're recognized thank you back on the issue that representative Vaught was talking about on the contract the representative talk what was the percentage of increase you mentioned again and what is it that drives that percentage of increase. So for for this year was five point five percent so and that was labor so and of course labor has gone up a considerable amount and in the last two years and rolling Office of your contracted it is normal to expect some increase and that's where the multiple steps to the negotiation process five and a half seem to be fair with the market and the market rates out there and then the two percent two point two percent cap going forward gives us that future protection it again for this stuff so okay and how did that do you do you guys benchmark against other states as far as what their cost of increases for their system verses are. Other states and also other contracts of the contractors we deal with it in dealing with our contractors right now our technology providers especially you know they're talking about how much labor costs of the ERA was mentioned for example and the amount that we're having to pay just for a case worker type skill for that system is probably twice what they used to go for in the past so there has been quite the escalation on on labor rates out there and this is a reflection of that so would you say case worker. Awhile ago I thought you said to representative thought it was I. T. services is it is it more than just I. T. services when you use the term case worker okay case worker we don't have case workers under this contract that's probably a bad example but I was trying to give you an example of what our labor rates and increased got yourself all right and then the last question is this this contract is. Do you say it was up for renewal or we just renewed it what did you say about I heard seven years what did you say about this is that the renewal date for this con well I renewals probably a bad turn the old contract ended we have a special procurement this is the beginning of that special procurement for the the new contract so. All right and and did we put it out for bid again and they were the only ones that responded to it or is this just a continuation of what they already had in place this is a continuation of what we had in place but we do forecast that we will be building this out in the next couple years and that's what this Special procurement gives us time to do that okay in a good manner or thank you. Representative Cavenaugh you're recognized thank you Mr chair just back on thirty to just follow up questions so. If I understood what Kathy was saying she said that there were multiple contracts one for pharmacy and can you get us a number how much we're paying for all of it so we can say whether it's pharmacy or all the other ones we know how much per year that we're paying for the services if I could get that information I appreciate it. Sir and then the other question if I have a follow up Mister chair you're recognized this contracted almost seventy million a year is that based on the number of claims that they're processing or is that just a fixed cost. That that's a fixed fee a part of it is a bucket for doing enhance budget so for example changes in federal program guidelines and things we have to make changes to the system so there there is some set aside fees to handle those kind of system changes built in so that that's not additional cost coming at us but other than that these are or fixed fees for delivering the services that are supposed to provide on this money set aside for changes that might be done if there are no changes do we get some of that money back. Yes that is that is a authorization to spend that is not guaranteed spend okay thank you. Senator Hammer you're recognized thank you Mr for leads to one more question back on that. Do you when that when they submit their proposal which this is of in state vendor on on that contract which is great Do you get to look at that you mention the labor rates are they labor rates based at the Arkansas market or the labor rates based on the region or do you guys even getting into any of that conversation you just take. Take the five percent increase. We would argue that fact and that's one of the reasons that the increase came down on you know Arkansas rates versus nationwide rates so but we were able to compare the rates to other contracts we have similar rates and similar services for architects and senior programmers and business analysts and those kind of things and and they were in line with the so. Okay so you actually negotiate the rate down from where they started in what was it when they started it was closer to ten percent when we first started and it got down to five point five yes Sir all right that that's good to note thank you. Thank you John saying no more questions the sizeable stand review. Mr chairman the next group of items on hire packet a packet or reports of we have since the committee did not meet last month we have reports for both October and November the first grade II wonder previously reviewed contracts you too will be executed contracts each three critical emergency procurements and again we've got those for October and November E. for there are none on this agenda but eighty five cooperative spending reports I want to note that the law requires each state agency as well as institution to provide this committee with an annual cooperative spending report any of those contracts that they enter into as a CC on the procurement cooperative contract we get information on this site spending report so those have been received by all institutions and agencies and if anybody is interested in leading some information on that I have that available you can send it to you on a an email or a file their large documents so those are the reports on today's agenda. Search for those don't need to be reviewed the only other item on our agenda is a proposal for an I. S. P. that has been referred to this committee it's it's in your packet of the subcommittees being asked to adopt this ISP so with no objections of the ISP will be had adopted. Not saying non will adopt. That. Thank you close the meeting.