Authority: Title 2.1, Chapter 35.2, Article 7, of Code of Virginia.

A. The Council on Information Management, the Department of Information Technology, and all related and affected state agencies and institutions shall not privatize or out-source the services of the State Data Center, or any information systems operated thereon, until the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission completes an examination of the issue, as provided for in Item 14 of this act.

B. There is hereby established the Virginia Technology Infrastructure Fund, as a nongeneral nonreverting special fund, to be administered by the Council on Information Management and to be funded as provided in § 3-1.02E of this act. The purpose of the Fund is to initiate and study special technology projects and needs of state agencies and institutions of higher education.

C. Notwithstanding the provisions of §4-3.02 of this act, the Secretary of Finance may provide interest-free treasury loans, not to exceed $1,000,000 to any agency or institution and not to exceed $10,000,000 in aggregate authorizations, for the purpose of assisting agencies and institutions in bringing their computer information systems into compliance with standards for the century date change which takes place in year 2000. The specific terms and structure of any loan shall be approved by the Secretary of Finance, after consultation with the Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees, or their designees. A treasury loan for this purpose shall be considered as bridge financing until permanent financing recommendations are made and approved by the 1998 session of the General Assembly.

D. The Council on Information Management, in conjunction with the Department of Motor Vehicles, the State Police, and representatives from the automatic identification manufacturing industry shall study the feasibility of designing operator licenses, state automobile license plates or license stickers, vehicle registration forms, vehicle inspection stickers, or other similar forms that would include machine-readable scan lines or bar codes that will permit the automatic electronic transmission of information pertaining to the vehicle for which they were issued. This study shall also examine any privacy protection issues, pursuant to § 46.2-208. The Council shall issue a report and recommendations prior to the 1998 Session of the General Assembly.

E.1. The amounts provided in the subprogram Special Project Management shall be expended for the Century Date Change Initiative Project Office. The Project Office shall be headed by a Director who shall report directly to the Secretary of Administration.

2. The Project Office Director shall have all the powers necessary to direct the Commonwealth's efforts to make it compliant with the standards necessary to operate computers, computer applications, and other date sensitive electronic equipment after December 31, 1999. Specifically, the Director shall: (a) set statewide standards and prioritize Year 2000 ("Y2K") plans that involve the Commonwealth's business applications, information technology infrastructure, telecommunications infrastructure, process control systems and supply chain interfaces, (b) disseminate best practices and leverage tools and techniques, (b) prioritize Y2K compliance efforts and refine the Commonwealth's application prioritization scheme to ensure the largest and most business-critical applications are accurately identified, (d) monitor Y2K compliance progress by requiring agencies to develop Y2K plans with milestones for review and approval by the director, (e) establish a Y2K compliance certification program, and (f) develop personnel retention policies and plans, including both financial incentives and targeted management retention.

3. All Executive Department agencies and institutions shall comply with the directives and reporting requirements established by the Director. Agency plans shall be available for review and modification by the Director.

4. Legislative, Judicial, and Independent agencies shall work cooperatively with the Project Office Director to ensure Y2K compliance.

5. The Director shall make reports no less than quarterly to the Governor and Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees on major aspects of the initiative, including status of funding needs, agencies at risk, and major problems and implications.