2026 -- H 8146

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LC005730

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO PUBLIC FINANCE -- STATE BUDGET--PROGRAM PERFORMANCE

MEASUREMENT

     Introduced By: Representatives Marszalkowski, and Slater

     Date Introduced: February 27, 2026

     Referred To: House Finance

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Sections 35-3-7.2, 35-3-17.1 and 35-3-24.1 of the General Laws in Chapter

35-3 entitled "State Budget" are hereby amended to read as follows:

     35-3-7.2. Budget officer as capital development officer.

     The budget officer shall be a capital development program officer who shall be responsible

for:

     (1) The review of all capital development requests submitted by the various state

departments, as set forth in chapter 6 of title 42, which shall include all independent boards and

commissions and the capital development plans of the Narragansett Bay Commission, Rhode Island

infrastructure bank, the Lottery Commission, and all other public corporations, as defined in

chapter 18 of this title which plans would be subject to the provisions of § 35-18-3; provided, that,

except as provided for in this section, nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the powers

of the council on postsecondary education as outlined in chapter 59 of title 16. Capital development

requests and plans shall be submitted in such form, with such explanation, in such number of copies,

and by such date as the budget officer may require. Copies shall also be provided directly to the

house fiscal advisor and the senate fiscal advisor.

     (2) Preparation of a capital budget which shall specify which capital items are proposed for

presentation to the electorate at the next general election.

     (3) The activities which will promote capital development planning and develop criteria

which can be used to determine appropriate levels of bonded indebtedness.

     (4) Acting as chairperson of the capital development planning and oversight commission

which is to be appointed by the governor and shall meet no less than quarterly. The commission,

in addition to recommending to the governor the biennial capital budget, shall implement a long-

range capital development planning process and shall be responsible for the development of an

inventory of state assets to determine the need and prioritization of capital improvements.

     (5) Working with the council on postsecondary education in the development by the

council of that portion of the council’s capital development program involving annual general

revenues.

     35-3-17.1. Financial statements required from state departments, agencies, and

instrumentalities.

     The several state departments, agencies, and public authorities and corporations shall

submit to the fiscal advisors of the house and senate, statements of financial conditions and

operations within thirty (30) days of the close of each of the first three (3) fiscal quarters of each

year. The statements shall include, at a minimum:

     (1) Account numbers;

     (2) Allotments;

     (3) Expenditures to-date;

     (4) Estimated expenditures to complete the fiscal year;

     (5) Surplus or deficiency projections; and

     (6) Progress on any corrective action plans per the most recent annual findings of the

auditor general., the party responsible to implement the corrective action plan, and, if applicable,

the reasons for disagreement with any recommendation proposed by the auditor general; and

     (7) The status of capital projects for which any funding from general obligation bond

proceeds, Rhode Island Capital Plan funds, or other pay-as-you-go sources has been approved for

the current fiscal year.

     35-3-24.1. Program performance measurement.

     (a)(1) Beginning with the fiscal year ending June 30, 1997, the governor shall submit, as

part of each budget submitted to the general assembly pursuant to § 35-3-7, performance objectives

for each program in the budget for the ensuing fiscal year, estimated performance data for the fiscal

year in which the budget is submitted, and actual performance data for the preceding two (2)

completed fiscal years. Performance data shall include efforts at achieving equal opportunity hiring

goals as defined in the department’s annual affirmative action plan. The governor shall, in addition,

recommend appropriate standards against which to measure program performance. Performance in

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prior years may be used as a standard where appropriate. These performance standards shall be

stated in terms of results obtained.

     (2) Beginning with the fiscal year 2028 budget submission, the capital budget shall identify

to the extent possible the source of the cost estimate upon which the recommendation is based and

which capital projects have had material changes to the scope of work or cost changes of more than

five percent (5%) from approved amounts.

     (b) The governor may submit, in lieu of any part of the information required to be submitted

pursuant to subsection (a), an explanation of why the information cannot as a practical matter be

submitted.

     (c)(1) The office of management and budget shall be responsible for managing and

collecting program performance measures on behalf of the governor. The office is authorized to

conduct performance reviews and audits of agencies to determine the manner and extent to which

executive branch agencies achieve intended objectives and outcomes.

     (2) In order to collect performance measures from agencies, review performance, and

provide recommendations, the office of budget and management is authorized to coordinate with

the office of internal audit and program integrity regarding the findings and recommendations that

result from audits conducted by the office.

     (3) In order to facilitate the office of management and budget’s performance reviews,

agencies must generate and provide timely access to records, reports, analyses, audits, reviews,

documents, papers, recommendations, contractual deliverables, or other materials available relating

to agency programs and operations.

     (4) In order to ensure alignment of executive branch agency operations with the state’s

priorities, the office of management and budget may produce, with all necessary cooperation from

executive branch agencies, analyses and recommendations to improve program performance,

conduct evidence-based budgeting, and respond to sudden shifts in policy environments.

     (5) In order to gain insight into performance or outcomes and inform policymaking and

program evaluation, the office of management and budget may lead, manage, and/or coordinate

interagency and cross-system collaboration or integration initiatives.

     SECTION 2. Section 42-11-2.5 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-11 entitled "Department

of Administration" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     42-11-2.5. Information technology restricted receipt account and large systems

initiatives fund.

     (a) All sums from the sale of any land and the buildings and improvements thereon, and

other real property, title to which is vested in the state, except as provided in § 37-7-15(b) through

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(d), shall be transferred to an information technology restricted receipt account (ITRR account) that

is hereby established. This ITRR account shall consist of such sums from the sale of any land and

the buildings and improvements thereon, and other real property, title to which is vested in the state,

except as provided in § 37-7-15(b) through (d), as well as a share of first response surcharge

revenues collected under the provisions of § 39-21.1-14. This ITRR account may also consist of

such sums as the state may from time to time appropriate; as well as money received from the

disposal of information technology hardware, loan, interest, and service charge payments from

benefiting state agencies; as well as interest earnings, money received from the federal government,

gifts, bequests, donations, or otherwise from any public or private source. Any such funds shall be

exempt from the indirect cost recovery provisions of § 35-4-27.

     (1) This ITRR account shall be used for the purpose of acquiring information technology

improvements, including, but not limited to: hardware, software, consulting services, and ongoing

maintenance and upgrade contracts for state departments and agencies.

     (2) The division of enterprise technology strategy and services of the Rhode Island

department of administration shall adopt rules and regulations consistent with the purposes of this

chapter and chapter 35 of this title, in order to provide recommendations for the orderly and

equitable disbursement of funds from this ITRR account; provided, however, disbursements from

the ITRR account shall be subject to project-specific appropriations and separately listed in the

capital budget submission.

     (3) For all requests for proposals that are issued for information technology projects, a

corresponding information technology project manager shall be assigned.

     (b) There is also hereby established a special fund to be known as the large systems

initiatives fund (LSI fund), separate and apart from the general fund of the state, to be administered

by the chief information officer within the department of administration for the purpose of

implementing and maintaining enterprise-wide software projects for executive branch departments.

The LSI fund shall consist of such sums as the state may from time to time directly appropriate to

the LSI fund, any accrued interest, and any funds collected pursuant to subsection (b)(1) of this

section. After the completion of any project, the chief digital officer shall inform the state controller

of unexpended sums previously transferred to the LSI Fund for that project and the state controller

shall subsequently transfer any such unexpended funds to the information technology restricted

receipt account; provided, further, the unexpended sums from a completed project and the

subsequent transfer to the ITRR account shall be reported by the state controller to the chairpersons

of the house finance committee and the senate finance committee. The state controller shall transfer

any excess interest accrued in the LSI fund and any funds collected pursuant to subsection (b)(1)

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of this section to the ITRR account.

     (1) The director of the department of administration may allocate and charge capitalized

costs, in accordance with the statewide cost allocation plan, to agencies that benefit from initiatives

funded through the LSI Fund. The department of administration shall include as part of its budget

submission pursuant to § 35-3-4 an expected billing schedule for any capitalized costs that the

department intends to charge to agencies for the next ensuing fiscal year.

     (c) For any new project initiated using sums expended from the LSI Fund, as part of its

budget submission pursuant to § 35-3-4 relative to state fiscal year 2025 and thereafter, the

department of administration shall include a statement of project purpose and the estimated project

cost.

     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO PUBLIC FINANCE -- STATE BUDGET--PROGRAM PERFORMANCE

MEASUREMENT

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     This act would provide additional oversight and reporting measures related to audits and

capital projects.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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