§ 4-5.04 GOODS AND SERVICES

a. STUDENT ATTENDANCE AT INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION:

1. Public Information Encouraged: Each public institution of higher education is expected and encouraged to provide prospective students with accurate and objective information about its programs and services. The institution may use public funds under the control of the institution's Board of Visitors for the development, preparation and dissemination of factual information about the following subjects: academic programs; special programs for minorities; dates, times and procedures for registration; dates and times of course offerings; admission requirements; financial aid; tuition and fee schedules; and other information normally distributed through the college catalog. This information may be presented in any and all media, such as newspapers, magazines, television or radio where the information may be in the form of news, public service announcements or advertisements. Other forms of acceptable presentation would include brochures, pamphlets, posters, notices, bulletins, official catalogs, flyers available at public places and formal or informal meetings with prospective students.

2. Excessive Promotion Prohibited: Each public institution of higher education is prohibited from using public funds under the control of the institution's Board of Visitors for the development, preparation, dissemination or presentation of any material intended or designed to induce students to attend by exaggerating or extolling the institution's virtues, faculty, students, facilities or programs through the use of hyperbole. Artwork and photographs which exaggerate or extol rather than supplement or complement permissible information are prohibited. Mass mailings are generally prohibited; however, either mass mailings or newspaper inserts, but not both, may be used if other methods of distributing permissible information are not economically feasible in the institution's local service area.

3. Remedial Education: Senior institutions of higher education shall make arrangements with community colleges for the remediation of students accepted for admission by the senior institutions.

4. Compliance: The president or chancellor of each institution of higher education is responsible for the institution's compliance with this subsection.

b. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FACILITIES AND SERVICES:

1.a) The Virginia Information Technologies Agency shall procure information technology and telecommunications goods and services of every description for its own benefit or on behalf of other state agencies and institutions, or authorize other state agencies or institutions to undertake such procurements on their own.

b) Except for research projects, research initiatives, or instructional programs at public institutions of higher education, requests for authorization from state agencies and institutions to procure information technology and telecommunications goods and services on their own behalf shall be made in writing to the Chief Information Officer or his designee.

c) The Chief Information Officer or his designee may grant the authorization upon a written determination that the request conforms to the statewide information technology plan and the individual information technology plan of the requesting agency or institution.

d) Any procurement authorized by the Chief Information Officer or his designee for information technology and telecommunications goods and services, including geographic information systems, shall be issued by the requesting state agency or institution in accordance with the regulations, policies, procedures, standards, and guidelines of the Virginia Information Technologies Agency.

e) Nothing in this subsection shall prevent public institutions of higher education or the Virginia Community College System from using the services of Network Virginia; however, utilization of the Network Virginia contract for services available under VITA state contract is prohibited except for research projects, research initiatives, or instructional programs at public institutions of higher education.

f) To ensure that the Commonwealth's research universities maintain a competitive position with access to the national optical research network infrastructure including the National LambdaRail and Internet2, the Network Virginia Contract Administrator is hereby authorized to renegotiate the term of the existing contracts. Additionally, the contract administrator is authorized to competitively negotiate additional agreements in accordance with the Code of Virginia and all applicable regulations, as required, to establish and maintain research network infrastructure.

2. If the billing rates and associated systems for computer, telecommunications and systems development services to state agencies are altered, the Director, Department of Planning and Budget, may transfer appropriations from the general fund between programs affected. These transfers are limited to actions needed to adjust for overfunding or underfunding the program appropriations affected by the altered billing systems.

3. The provisions of this subsection shall not in any way affect the duties and responsibilities of the State Comptroller under the provisions of § 2.2-803, Code of Virginia.

4. It is the intent of the General Assembly that information technology (IT) systems, products, data, and service costs, including geographic information systems (GIS), be contained through the shared use of existing or planned equipment, data, or services which may be available or soon made available for use by state agencies, institutions, authorities, and other public bodies. State agencies, institutions, and authorities shall cooperate with the Virginia Information Technologies Agency in identifying the development and operational requirements for proposed IT and GIS systems, products, data, and services, including the proposed use, functionality, capacity and the total cost of acquisition, operation and maintenance.

5.  This section shall not apply to public institutions of higher education governed by Chapters 933 and 943 of the 2006 Acts of Assembly.

c. MOTOR VEHICLES AND AIRCRAFT:

1. No motor vehicles (including station wagons) shall be purchased or leased with public funds by the state or any officer or employee on behalf of the state without the prior written approval of the Director, Department of General Services.

2. The institutions of higher education shall be exempt from this provision but shall be required to report their entire inventory of purchased and leased vehicles including the cost of such to the Director of the Department of General Services by June 30 of each year. The Director of the Department of General Services shall compare the cost of vehicles acquired by institutions of higher education to like vehicles under the state contract. If the comparison demonstrates for a given institution that the cost to the Commonwealth is greater for like vehicles than would be the case based on a contract of statewide applicability, the Governor or his designee may suspend the exemption granted to the institution pursuant to this subparagraph c.

3. The Director, Department of General Services, is hereby authorized to transfer surplus motor vehicles among the state agencies, and determine the value of such surplus equipment for the purpose of maintaining the financial accounts of the state agencies affected by such transfers.

d. MOTION PICTURE, TELEVISION AND RADIO SERVICES PRODUCTION: Except for public institutions of higher education governed by Chapters 933 and 943 of the 2006 Acts of Assembly, no state Executive Department agency or the State Lottery Department shall expend any public funds for the production of motion picture films or of programs for television transmission, or for the operation of television or radio transmission facilities, without the prior written approval of the Governor or as otherwise provided in this act, except for educational television programs produced for elementary-secondary education by authority of the Virginia Information Technologies Agency. The Joint Subcommittee on Rules is authorized to provide the approval of such expenditures for legislative agencies. For judicial agencies and independent agencies, other than the State Lottery Department, prior approval action rests with the supervisory bodies of these entities. With respect to television programs which are so approved and other programs which are otherwise authorized or are not produced for television transmission, state agencies may enter into contracts without competitive sealed bidding, or competitive negotiation, for program production and transmission services which are performed by public telecommunications entities, as defined in § 2.2-2427, Code of Virginia.

e. TRAVEL: Reimbursement for the cost of travel on official business of the state government is authorized to be paid pursuant to law and regulations issued by the State Comptroller to implement such law. Notwithstanding any contrary provisions of law:

1. For the use of personal automobiles in the discharge of official duties outside the continental limits of the United States, the State Comptroller may authorize an allowance not exceeding the actual cost of operation of such automobiles;

2. The first 15,000 miles of use during each fiscal year of personal automobiles in the discharge of official duties within the continental limits of the United States shall be reimbursed at an amount equal to the most recent business standard mileage rate as established by the Internal Revenue Service for employees or self-employed individuals to use in computing their income tax deductible costs for operating passenger vehicles owned or leased by them for business purposes, or in the instance of a state employee, at the lesser of (a) the IRS rate or (b) the lowest combined capital and operational trip pool rate charged by the Department of General Services, Office of Fleet Management Services (OFMS), posted on the OFMS website at time of travel, for the use of a compact state-owned vehicle. If the head of the state agency concerned certifies that a state-owned vehicle was not available, or if, according to regulations issued by the State Comptroller, the use of a personal automobile in lieu of a state-owned automobile is considered to be an advantage to the state, the reimbursement shall be at the rate of the IRS rate. For such use in excess of 15,000 miles in each fiscal year, the reimbursement shall be at a rate of 13.0 cents per mile, unless a state-owned vehicle is not available; then the rate shall be the IRS rate;

3. The State Comptroller may authorize exemptions to restrictions upon use of common carrier accommodations;

4. The State Comptroller may authorize reimbursement by per diem in lieu of actual costs of meals and any other expense category deemed necessary for the efficient and effective operation of state government;

5. State agencies shall identify all employees likely to travel on official business of state government more than twice per year and shall reimburse such employees for their travel costs using electronic data interchange. Any exceptions to this requirement must be approved by the affected cabinet secretary; and

6. This section shall not apply to members and employees of public school boards.

f. SMALL PURCHASE CHARGE CARD, ELECTRONIC DATA INTERCHANGE, DIRECT DEPOSIT, AND PAYLINE OPT OUT: The State Comptroller is hereby authorized to charge state agencies a fee of $5 per check or earnings notice when, in his judgment, agencies have failed to comply with the Commonwealth's electronic commerce initiatives to reduce unnecessary administrative costs for the printing and mailing of state checks and earning notices. The fee shall be collected by the Department of Accounts through accounting entries.

g. PURCHASES OF APPLIANCES AND EQUIPMENT: State agencies and institutions shall purchase Energy Star rated appliances and equipment in all cases where such appliances and equipment are available.

h.  ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS: Any recipient of payments from the State Treasury who receives six or more payments per year issued by the State Treasurer shall receive such payments electronically.  The State Treasurer shall decide the appropriate method of electronic payment and, through his warrant issuance authority, the State Comptroller shall enforce the provisions of this section.  The State Comptroller is authorized to grant administrative relief to this requirement when circumstances justify non-electronic payment.

i.  LOCAL AND NON-STATE SAVINGS AND EFFICIENCIES: It is the intent of the General Assembly that State agencies shall encourage and assist local governments, school divisions, and other non-state governmental entities in their efforts to achieve cost savings and efficiencies in the provision of mandated functions and services including but not limited to finance, procurement, social services programs, and facilities management.