MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2014 Regular Session
To: Appropriations
By: Representatives Frierson, Hines
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 25-9-120, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT ALL PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACTS INVOLVING THE EXPENDITURES OF FUNDS IN EXCESS OF ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS SHALL BE FINALLY APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED BY THE STATE PERSONNEL BOARD AFTER REVIEW BY THE PERSONAL SERVICE CONTRACT REVIEW BOARD; TO TRANSFER THE REMAINING POWERS OF THE PERSONAL SERVICE CONTRACT REVIEW BOARD TO THE STATE PERSONNEL BOARD; TO AMEND SECTIONS 7-7-3, 7-7-211, 25-9-107, 25-53-21, 43-13-123, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM TO THE PRECEDING PROVISIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 25-9-120, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-9-120. (1) Contract personnel, whether classified as contract workers or independent contractors shall not be deemed state service or nonstate service employees of the State of Mississippi, and shall not be eligible to participate in the Public Employees' Retirement System, or the state employee health plan, nor be allowed credit for personal and sick leave and other leave benefits as employees of the State of Mississippi, notwithstanding Sections 25-3-91 through 25-3-101; 25-9-101 through 25-9-151; 25-11-1 through 25-11-126; 25-11-128 through 25-11-131; 25-15-1 through 25-15-23 and for the purpose set forth herein. Contract workers, i.e., contract personnel who do not meet the criteria of independent contractors, shall be subject to the provisions of Section 25-11-127.
(2) There is * * *
created the Personal Service Contract Review Board, which shall be composed
of the State Personnel Director, the Executive Director of the Department of
Finance and Administration, or his designee, the Commissioner of Corrections, or
his designee, the Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife * * *, Fisheries and Parks, or his
designee, and the Executive Director of the Department of Environmental
Quality, or his designee. The State Personnel Director shall be chairman and
shall preside over the meetings of the board. The board shall annually elect a
vice chairman, who shall serve in the absence of the chairman. No business
shall be transacted, including adoption of rules of procedure, without the
presence of a quorum of the board. Three (3) members shall be a quorum. No
action shall be valid unless approved by the chairman and two (2) other of
those members present and voting, entered upon the minutes of the board and
signed by the chairman. Necessary clerical and administrative support for the
board shall be provided by the State Personnel Board. Minutes shall be kept of
the proceedings of each meeting, copies of which shall be filed on a monthly
basis with the Legislative Budget Office.
(2) Unless otherwise provided by law, the Personal Service Contract Review Board shall review all personal and professional services contracts involving the expenditures of funds in excess of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) and submit those contracts with any recommendations to the State Personnel Board for final approval or disapproval.
( * * *4) The * * * State Personnel Board shall
have the following powers and responsibilities regarding personal and
professional services contracts and contractual services personnel:
(a) Promulgate rules
and regulations governing the solicitation and selection of contractual
services personnel including personal and professional services contracts for
any form of consulting, policy analysis, public relations, marketing, public
affairs, legislative advocacy services or any other contract that the board
deems appropriate for oversight, with the exception of any personal service
contracts entered into for computer or information technology-related services
governed by the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services, any
personal service contracts entered into by the Mississippi Department of
Transportation, and any contract for attorney, accountant, auditor, physician,
dentist, architect, engineer, veterinarian and utility rate expert services.
Any such rules and regulations shall provide for maintaining continuous
internal audit covering the activities of such agency affecting its revenue and
expenditures as required under Section 7-7-3(6)(d) * * *;
(b) Approve all personal and professional services contracts involving the expenditures of funds in excess of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00), after review by the Personal Service Contract Review Board;
(c) Develop standards
with respect to contractual services personnel which require invitations for
public bid, requests for proposals, record keeping and financial responsibility
of contractors. The * * * State
Personnel Board may, in its discretion, require the agency involved to
advertise such contract for public bid, and may reserve the right to reject any
or all bids;
(d) Prescribe certain
circumstances * * * by which agency heads may
enter into contracts for personal and professional services without * * * prior * * * review of the
Personal Service Contract Review Board and approval of the State Personnel
Board. The * * * State Personnel Board
may establish a preapproved list of providers of various personal and
professional services for set prices with which state agencies may contract
without bidding or prior * * *approval from review of the Personal Service
Contract Review Board and approval of the State Personnel Board * * *;
(e) To provide standards for the issuance of requests for proposals, the evaluation of proposals received, consideration of costs and quality of services proposed, contract negotiations, the administrative monitoring of contract performance by the agency and successful steps in terminating a contract;
(f) To present recommendations for governmental privatization and to evaluate privatization proposals submitted by any state agency;
(g) To authorize
personal and professional service contracts to be effective for more than one
(1) year provided a funding condition is included in any such multiple year
contract, except the State Board of Education, which shall have the authority
to enter into contractual agreements for student assessment for a period up to
ten (10) years. The State Board of Education shall procure these services in
accordance with the * * * State
Personnel Board procurement regulations;
(h) To request the State Auditor to conduct a performance audit on any personal or professional service contract;
(i) Prepare an annual report to the Legislature concerning the issuance of personal service contracts during the previous year, collecting any necessary information from state agencies in making such report.
( * * *5) No member of the Personal Service
Contract Review Board shall use his official authority or influence to coerce,
by threat of discharge from employment, or otherwise, the purchase of
commodities or the contracting for personal or professional services under this
section.
SECTION 2. Section 7-7-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
7-7-3. (1) There is * * *
established a General Accounting Office for the State of Mississippi, the
powers and duties of * * * the office to be performed
by the Bureau of Budget and Fiscal Management under the administration of the
State Fiscal Officer.
(2) The Chief of the Fiscal Management Division, under the supervision of the State Fiscal Officer, shall prescribe and implement in the office of each state agency an adequate accrual accounting system, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles, and a system for keeping other essential financial records or, in lieu thereof, may install a state centralized automated accounting system which facilitates reporting the financial position and operations of the state as a whole, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. All such accounting systems so prescribed or installed shall be as uniform as may be practicable for agencies and offices of the same class and character.
Each state agency shall
adopt and use the system prescribed and approved for it by the State Fiscal
Officer, and the State Fiscal Officer shall have the authority and power to
impound all funds of such agency until it complies with the provisions of this
section. * * * The state centralized automated
accounting system shall be made available to the agencies of state government
through the services of the State Computer Center. The State Fiscal Officer
shall conduct training seminars on a regular basis to ensure that agencies have
access to persons proficient in the correct use of the statewide automated
accounting system.
(3) The State Fiscal
Officer shall establish an oversight advisory committee to ensure that the
state centralized automated accounting system meets the needs of the agencies
served thereby. Said oversight advisory committee shall be composed of
qualified public employees proficient in the areas of fiscal management,
accounting, data processing and other fields affected by the automated
accounting and financial management system. * * *
The committee shall have the following responsibilities:
(a) Provide continual review of laws, rules, regulations, policies and procedures which affect the continued successful implementation of the state automated accounting and financial management system;
(b) Coordination among the control agencies of state and federal government to identify required modifications and/or enhancements to the state centralized automated accounting system as required for successful implementation;
(c) Ensure that agencies using the system are in compliance with the requirements of the various control agencies; and
(d) Assign persons knowledgeable in their area of expertise and proper use of the state centralized automated accounting system to help agencies use the system correctly.
(4) The State Fiscal Officer shall provide for the continuing support of the state centralized automated accounting system from funds appropriated therefor by the Legislature and/or from user fees charged to the state agencies and institutions utilizing the system.
The State Fiscal Officer may charge fees to agencies and institutions for services rendered to them in conjunction with the statewide automated accounting system. The amounts of such fees shall be set by the State Fiscal Officer, and all such fees collected shall be paid into the Statewide Automated Accounting System Fund.
(5) There is * * *
established within the
State Treasury a special fund to be designated as the Mississippi Management
and Reporting System Revolving Fund. This fund is established for the purpose
of developing and maintaining an executive information system within state
government. Such a system may include the state centralized automated
accounting system, a centralized automated human resource/payroll system for
state agencies and the automation of performance programmatic data and other
data as needed by the legislative and executive branches to monitor the receipt
and expenditure of funds in accordance with desired objectives.
A Steering Committee consisting of the State Fiscal Officer, the Executive Director of the State Personnel Board and the Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services shall establish policies and procedures for the administration of the Mississippi Management and Reporting System Revolving Fund.
All disbursements from this fund shall be made pursuant to appropriation by the Legislature. All interest earned from the investment of monies in this fund shall be credited to such fund.
* * *
The Bond Commission is * * *
authorized to grant
a noninterest-bearing loan to the Mississippi Management and Reporting System
Revolving Fund from the State Treasurer's General Fund/Special Fund Pool in an
amount not to exceed Fifteen Million Dollars ($15,000,000.00).
The Mississippi Management
and Reporting System Steering Committee shall appoint an administrator of the
Mississippi Management and Reporting System Revolving Fund. The salary of the
administrator and all other project administrative expenses shall be disbursed
from the revolving fund. The administrator of the fund is * * *
authorized to employ or
secure personnel service contracts for all personnel required to carry out this
project. On or before January 15 of each year, the State Fiscal Officer shall
present a report of all expenditures made during the previous fiscal year from
the Mississippi Management and Reporting System Revolving Fund to the State
Bond Commission and to the Legislature.
Upon implementation of the Mississippi Management and Reporting System, or any part thereof, at any state agency, a repayment schedule shall be determined by the Mississippi Management and Reporting System Revolving Fund administrator for payment back into the Mississippi Management and Reporting System Revolving Fund. This repayment schedule will include direct and indirect expenses of implementing the Mississippi Management and Reporting System at each agency and applied interest charges. Each state agency shall be required to request the amount of its yearly repayment in its annual budget request.
At the completion of the Mississippi Management and Reporting System, the Steering Committee shall recommend to the Legislature an amount to remain in the Mississippi Management and Reporting System Revolving Fund to fund future upgrades and maintenance for the system. The remaining amount, as repaid by the agencies, shall be returned to the General Fund/Special Fund Pool.
Each state agency executive director shall participate in the Mississippi Management and Reporting System (MMRS) project by appointing an agency implementation team leader to represent them on the MMRS project. All agencies will be required to implement the MMRS unless exempted from such by the MMRS Steering Committee. If such an exemption is granted, the MMRS Steering Committee may require selected data to be electronically interfaced into the MMRS.
(6) In addition to his other duties, the Chief of the Fiscal Management Division shall perform the following services:
(a) Maintain a set of control accounts on a double entry accrual basis for each state fund so as to analyze, classify and record all resources, obligations and financial transactions of all state agencies.
(b) Submit to the Governor and to the Legislative Budget Office a monthly report containing the state's financial operations and conditions.
(c) Approve as to form the manner in which all payrolls shall be prepared; and require each state agency to furnish copies of monthly payrolls as required to the State Fiscal Officer. The Chief of the Fiscal Management Division shall study the feasibility of a central payroll system for all state officers and employees, and report his findings and recommendations to the Legislature.
(d) Require of each
state agency, through its governing board or executive head, the maintaining of
continuous internal audit covering the activities of such agency affecting its
revenue and expenditures, and an adequate internal system of preauditing
claims, demands and accounts against such agency as to adequately ensure that
only valid claims, demands and accounts will be paid, and to verify compliance
with the regulations of the State * * * Personnel
Board regarding the execution of any personal service or professional service
contracts * * * under Section 25-9-120( * * *4). The Fiscal Management Division
shall report to the State Fiscal Officer any failure or refusal of the
governing board or executive head of any state agency to comply with the
provisions of this section. The State Fiscal Officer shall notify the * * *
board of trustees or executive head of such violation and, upon continued
failure or refusal to comply with the provisions of this section, then the
State Fiscal Officer may require * * *
the board of trustees or executive head of such state agency to
furnish competent and adequate personnel to carry out the provisions of this
section, who shall be responsible to the State Fiscal Officer for the
performance of such function with respect to such state agency. For failure or
refusal to comply with the provisions of this section or the directions of the
State Fiscal Officer, any such employee may be deprived of the power to perform
such functions on behalf of the Fiscal Management Division.
(7) Every state agency,
through the proper officials or employee, shall make such periodic or special
reports on forms prescribed by the Chief of the Fiscal Management Division as
may be required or necessary to maintain the set of control accounts required.
If any officer or employee of any state agency whose duty it is to do so shall
refuse or fail to make such periodic or special reports in such form and in
such detail and within such time as the Fiscal Management Division may require
in the exercise of this authority, the State Fiscal Officer shall prepare or
cause to be prepared and submitted such reports and the expense thereof shall
be personally borne by * * * the officer or employee and he or
she shall be responsible on his or her official bond for the payment of the
expense. * * * A negligently prepared report shall be considered as a
refusal or failure under the provisions of this section.
SECTION 3. Section 7-7-211, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
7-7-211. The department shall have the power and it shall be its duty:
(a) To identify and define for all public offices of the state and its subdivisions generally accepted accounting principles or other accounting principles as promulgated by nationally recognized professional organizations and to consult with the State Fiscal Officer in the prescription and implementation of accounting rules and regulations;
(b) To provide best practices,
for all public offices of regional and local subdivisions of the state, systems
of accounting, budgeting and reporting financial facts relating to * * *
those offices in
conformity with legal requirements and with generally accepted accounting
principles or other accounting principles as promulgated by nationally
recognized professional organizations; to assist such subdivisions in need of
assistance in the installation of such systems; to revise such systems when
deemed necessary, and to report to the Legislature at periodic times the extent
to which each office is maintaining such systems, along with such
recommendations to the Legislature for improvement as seem desirable;
(c) To study and analyze existing managerial policies, methods, procedures, duties and services of the various state departments and institutions upon written request of the Governor, the Legislature or any committee or other body empowered by the Legislature to make such request to determine whether and where operations can be eliminated, combined, simplified and improved;
(d) To postaudit each year and, when deemed necessary, preaudit and investigate the financial affairs of the departments, institutions, boards, commissions or other agencies of state government, as part of the publication of a comprehensive annual financial report for the State of Mississippi. In complying with the requirements of this paragraph, the department shall have the authority to conduct all necessary audit procedures on an interim and year-end basis;
(e) To postaudit and, when deemed necessary, preaudit and investigate separately the financial affairs of (i) the offices, boards and commissions of county governments and any departments and institutions thereof and therein; (ii) public school districts, departments of education and junior college districts; and (iii) any other local offices or agencies which share revenues derived from taxes or fees imposed by the State Legislature or receive grants from revenues collected by governmental divisions of the state; the cost of such audits, investigations or other services to be paid as follows: Such part shall be paid by the state from appropriations made by the Legislature for the operation of the State Department of Audit as may exceed the sum of Thirty Dollars ($30.00) per man hour for the services of each staff person engaged in performing the audit or other service plus the actual cost of any independent specialist firm contracted by the State Auditor to assist in the performance of the audit, which sum shall be paid by the county, district, department, institution or other agency audited out of its general fund or any other available funds from which such payment is not prohibited by law. Costs paid for independent specialists or firms contracted by the State Auditor shall be paid by the audited entity through the State Auditor to the specialist or firm conducting the postaudit.
Each school district in the state shall have its financial records audited annually, at the end of each fiscal year, either by the State Auditor or by a certified public accountant approved by the State Auditor. Beginning with the audits of fiscal year 2010 activity, no certified public accountant shall be selected to perform the annual audit of a school district who has audited that district for three (3) or more consecutive years previously. Certified public accountants shall be selected in a manner determined by the State Auditor. The school district shall have the responsibility to pay for the audit, including the review by the State Auditor of audits performed by certified public accountants;
(f) To postaudit and, when deemed necessary, preaudit and investigate the financial affairs of the levee boards; agencies created by the Legislature or by executive order of the Governor; profit or nonprofit business entities administering programs financed by funds flowing through the State Treasury or through any of the agencies of the state, or its subdivisions; and all other public bodies supported by funds derived in part or wholly from public funds, except municipalities which annually submit an audit prepared by a qualified certified public accountant using methods and procedures prescribed by the department;
(g) To make written
demand, when necessary, for the recovery of any amounts representing public
funds improperly withheld, misappropriated and/or otherwise illegally expended
by an officer, employee or administrative body of any state, county or other
public office, and/or for the recovery of the value of any public property
disposed of in an unlawful manner by a public officer, employee or
administrative body, such demands to be made (i) upon the person or persons
liable for such amounts and upon the surety on official bond thereof, and/or
(ii) upon any individual, partnership, corporation or association to whom the
illegal expenditure was made or with whom the unlawful disposition of public
property was made, if such individual, partnership, corporation or association
knew or had reason to know through the exercising of reasonable diligence that
the expenditure was illegal or the disposition unlawful. Such demand shall be
premised on competent evidence, which shall include at least one (1) of the
following: (i) sworn statements, (ii) written documentation, (iii) physical
evidence, or (iv) reports and findings of government or other law enforcement
agencies. Other provisions notwithstanding, a demand letter issued pursuant to
this paragraph shall remain confidential
by the State Auditor until the individual against whom the demand letter is
being filed has been served with a copy of such demand letter. If, however,
such individual cannot be notified within fifteen (15) days using reasonable
means and due diligence, such notification shall be made to the individual's
bonding company, if he or she is bonded. Each such demand shall be paid into
the proper treasury of the state, county or other public body through the
office of the department in the amount demanded within thirty (30) days from
the date thereof, together with interest thereon in the sum of one percent (1%)
per month from the date such amount or amounts were improperly withheld,
misappropriated and/or otherwise illegally expended. * * * If, however, such person or
persons or such surety shall refuse, neglect or otherwise fail to pay the
amount demanded and the interest due thereon within the allotted thirty (30)
days, the State Auditor shall have the authority and it shall be his duty to
institute suit, and the Attorney General shall prosecute the same in any court
of the state to the end that there shall be recovered the total of such amounts
from the person or persons and surety on official bond named therein; and the
amounts so recovered shall be paid into the proper treasury of the state,
county or other public body through the State Auditor. In any case where
written demand is issued to a surety on the official bond of such person or
persons and the surety refuses, neglects or otherwise fails within one hundred
twenty (120) days to either pay the amount demanded and the interest due
thereon or to give the State Auditor a written response with specific reasons
for nonpayment, then the surety shall be subject to a civil penalty in an
amount of twelve percent (12%) of the bond, not to exceed Ten Thousand Dollars
($10,000.00), to be deposited into the State General Fund;
(h) To investigate any alleged or suspected violation of the laws of the state by any officer or employee of the state, county or other public office in the purchase, sale or the use of any supplies, services, equipment or other property belonging thereto; and in such investigation to do any and all things necessary to procure evidence sufficient either to prove or disprove the existence of such alleged or suspected violations. The Department of Investigation of the State Department of Audit may investigate, for the purpose of prosecution, any suspected criminal violation of the provisions of this chapter. For the purpose of administration and enforcement of this chapter, the enforcement employees of the Department of Investigation of the State Department of Audit have the powers of a law enforcement officer of this state, and shall be empowered to make arrests and to serve and execute search warrants and other valid legal process anywhere within the State of Mississippi. All enforcement employees of the Department of Investigation of the State Department of Audit hired on or after July 1, 1993, shall be required to complete the Law Enforcement Officers Training Program and shall meet the standards of the program;
(i) To issue subpoenas, with the approval of, and returnable to, a judge of a chancery or circuit court, in termtime or in vacation, to examine the records, documents or other evidence of persons, firms, corporations or any other entities insofar as such records, documents or other evidence relate to dealings with any state, county or other public entity. The circuit or chancery judge must serve the county in which the records, documents or other evidence is located; or where all or part of the transaction or transactions occurred which are the subject of the subpoena;
(j) In any instances in which the State Auditor is or shall be authorized or required to examine or audit, whether preaudit or postaudit, any books, ledgers, accounts or other records of the affairs of any public hospital owned or owned and operated by one or more political subdivisions or parts thereof or any combination thereof, or any school district, including activity funds thereof, it shall be sufficient compliance therewith, in the discretion of the State Auditor, that such examination or audit be made from the report of any audit or other examination certified by a certified public accountant and prepared by or under the supervision of such certified public accountant. Such audits shall be made in accordance with generally accepted standards of auditing, with the use of an audit program prepared by the State Auditor, and final reports of such audits shall conform to the format prescribed by the State Auditor. All files, working papers, notes, correspondence and all other data compiled during the course of the audit shall be available, without cost, to the State Auditor for examination and abstracting during the normal business hours of any business day. The expense of such certified reports shall be borne by the respective hospital, or any available school district funds other than minimum program funds, subject to examination or audit. The State Auditor shall not be bound by such certified reports and may, in his or their discretion, conduct such examination or audit from the books, ledgers, accounts or other records involved as may be appropriate and authorized by law;
(k) The State Auditor shall have the authority to contract with qualified public accounting firms to perform selected audits required in paragraphs (d), (e), (f) and (j) of this section, if funds are made available for such contracts by the Legislature, or if funds are available from the governmental entity covered by paragraphs (d), (e), (f) and (j). Such audits shall be made in accordance with generally accepted standards of auditing. All files, working papers, notes, correspondence and all other data compiled during the course of the audit shall be available, without cost, to the State Auditor for examination and abstracting during the normal business hours of any business day;
(l) The State Auditor shall have the authority to establish training courses and programs for the personnel of the various state and local governmental entities under the jurisdiction of the Office of the State Auditor. The training courses and programs shall include, but not be limited to, topics on internal control of funds, property and equipment control and inventory, governmental accounting and financial reporting, and internal auditing. The State Auditor is authorized to charge a fee from the participants of these courses and programs, which fee shall be deposited into the Department of Audit Special Fund. State and local governmental entities are authorized to pay such fee and any travel expenses out of their general funds or any other available funds from which such payment is not prohibited by law;
(m) Upon written request by the Governor or any member of the State Legislature, the State Auditor may audit any state funds and/or state and federal funds received by any nonprofit corporation incorporated under the laws of this state;
(n) To conduct
performance audits of personal or professional service contracts by state agencies
on a random sampling basis, or upon request of the State * * *
Personnel
Board under Section 25-9-120( * * *4).
SECTION 4. Section 25-9-107, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-9-107. The following terms, when used in this chapter, unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context, shall have the following meanings:
(a) "Board" means the State Personnel Board created under the provisions of this chapter.
(b) "State service" means all employees of state departments, agencies and institutions as defined herein, except those officers and employees excluded by this chapter.
(c) "Nonstate service" means the following officers and employees excluded from the state service by this chapter. The following are excluded from the state service:
(i) Members of
the State Legislature, their * * * staff and other employees of the
legislative branch;
(ii) The Governor and staff members of the immediate Office of the Governor;
(iii) Justices and judges of the judicial branch or members of appeals boards on a per diem basis;
(iv) The Lieutenant Governor, staff members of the immediate Office of the Lieutenant Governor and officers and employees directly appointed by the Lieutenant Governor;
(v) Officers and officials elected by popular vote and persons appointed to fill vacancies in elective offices;
(vi) Members of boards and commissioners appointed by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor or the State Legislature;
(vii) All academic officials, members of the teaching staffs and employees of the state institutions of higher learning, the State Board for Community and Junior Colleges, and community and junior colleges;
(viii) Officers and enlisted members of the National Guard of the state;
(ix) Prisoners, inmates, student or patient help working in or about institutions;
(x) Contract
personnel; * * * however, any agency which employs state service
employees may enter into contracts for personal and professional services only
if such contracts are approved in compliance with the rules and regulations
promulgated by the State * * *Personal Service contract Review Personnel Board
under Section 25-9-120( * * *34). Before paying any warrant for such contractual
services in excess of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00), the * * *
State Fiscal Officer shall determine whether
the contract involved was for personal or professional services, and, if so,
was approved by the State * * *
Personnel Board;
(xi) Part-time employees; * * * however, part-time employees shall only be hired into authorized employment positions classified by the board, shall meet minimum qualifications as set by the board, and shall be paid in accordance with the Variable Compensation Plan as certified by the board;
(xii) Persons appointed on an emergency basis for the duration of the emergency; the effective date of the emergency appointments shall not be earlier than the date approved by the State Personnel Director, and shall be limited to thirty (30) working days. Emergency appointments may be extended to sixty (60) working days by the State Personnel Board;
(xiii) Physicians, dentists, veterinarians, nurse practitioners and attorneys, while serving in their professional capacities in authorized employment positions who are required by statute to be licensed, registered or otherwise certified as such, provided that the State Personnel Director shall verify that the statutory qualifications are met prior to issuance of a payroll warrant by the Auditor;
(xiv) Personnel who are employed and paid from funds received from a federal grant program which has been approved by the Legislature or the Department of Finance and Administration whose length of employment has been determined to be time-limited in nature. This subparagraph shall apply to personnel employed under the provisions of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973, as amended, and other special federal grant programs which are not a part of regular federally funded programs wherein appropriations and employment positions are appropriated by the Legislature. Such employees shall be paid in accordance with the Variable Compensation Plan and shall meet all qualifications required by federal statutes or by the Mississippi Classification Plan;
(xv) The
administrative head who is in charge of any state department, agency,
institution, board or commission, wherein the statute specifically authorizes
the Governor, board, commission or other authority to appoint * * * the administrative head; * * *
however, * * * the salary of such administrative
head shall be determined by the State Personnel Board in accordance with the
Variable Compensation Plan unless otherwise fixed by statute;
(xvi) The State
Personnel Board shall exclude top-level positions if the incumbents determine
and publicly advocate substantive program policy and report directly to the
agency head, or the incumbents are required to maintain a direct confidential
working relationship with a key excluded official. * * * A written job classification shall be approved by
the board for each such position, and positions so excluded shall be paid in
conformity with the Variable Compensation Plan;
(xvii) Employees whose employment is solely in connection with an agency's contract to produce, store or transport goods, and whose compensation is derived therefrom;
(xviii) Repealed;
(xix) The associate director, deputy directors and bureau directors within the Department of Agriculture and Commerce;
(xx) Personnel
employed by the Mississippi Industries for the Blind; * * * any agency may enter into contracts for the personal
services of MIB employees without the prior review of the State Personal
Service Contract Review Board and approval of the State Personnel Board * * *
; however, any agency contracting for the personal services of
an MIB employee shall provide the MIB employee with not less than the entry-level
compensation and benefits that the agency would provide to a full-time employee
of the agency who performs the same services;
(xxi) Personnel employed by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks and the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources as law enforcement trainees (cadets); such personnel shall be paid in accordance with the Colonel Guy Groff State Variable Compensation Plan.
(d) "Agency" means any state board, commission, committee, council, department or unit thereof created by the Constitution or statutes if such board, commission, committee, council, department, unit or the head thereof, is authorized to appoint subordinate staff by the Constitution or statute, except a legislative or judicial board, commission, committee, council, department or unit thereof.
SECTION 5. Section 25-53-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-53-21. The executive director shall have the following duties, responsibilities and authority:
(a) He shall conduct continuing studies of all information technology activities carried out by all agencies of the state and shall develop a long-range plan for the efficient and economical performance of such activities in state government. Such plan shall be submitted to the authority for its approval and, having been approved by the authority, shall be implemented by the executive director and all state agencies. Such plan shall be continuously reviewed and modifications thereof shall be proposed to the authority by the executive director as developments in information technology techniques and changes in the structure, activities, and functions of state government may require.
(b) He shall review the purchasing practices of all state agencies in the area of the purchasing of supplies for information technology and make recommendations to the authority and to the Public Procurement Review Board for the institution of purchasing procedures which will insure the most economical procurement of such supplies commensurate with the efficient operation of all departments and agencies of state government.
(c) He shall see that all reports required of all agencies are promptly and accurately made in accordance with the rules and regulations adopted by the authority. Either in person or through his authorized agents, he shall make such inspections of information technology operations being conducted by any of the agencies of the state as may be necessary for the performance of his duties.
(d) He shall suggest
and cause to be brought about cooperation between the several state agencies in
order to provide efficiency in information technology operation. He shall,
together with the heads of the agencies involved, reduce to writing and execute
cooperative plans for the acquisition and operation of information technology
equipment, and any such plan so adopted shall be carried out in accordance with
the provisions of such plan unless the same shall be amended by the joint
action of the executive director and the heads of agencies involved. The
executive director shall report to the authority the details of any plan so
adopted and all amendments or modifications thereof, and shall otherwise report
to the authority and to the Public Procurement Review Board any failure on the
part of any agency to carry out the provisions of such plan. * * *
If the head of any agency involved or the executive director * * *
proposes amendments to a plan so adopted and such amendment is
disapproved by the head of another agency involved or the executive director,
an appeal may be taken to the authority which may, after full consideration
thereof, order the adoption of the proposed amendment or any modification
thereof. The executive director shall make decisions on all questions of the
division of the cost of information technology operations among the several
agencies, but his findings shall be subject to the approval or modification by
the authority on appeal to it.
(e) He shall review all contracts for acquisition of computer equipment or services now or hereafter in force and may require the renegotiation, termination, amendment or execution of any such contracts in proper form and in accordance with the policies and rules and regulations and subject to the direction of the authority. In the negotiation and execution of such contracts, the executive director may negotiate a limitation on the liability to the state of prospective contractors provided such limitation affords the state reasonable protection.
(f) He shall act as
the purchasing and contracting agent for the State of Mississippi in the
negotiation and execution of all contracts for the acquisition of computer
equipment or services. He shall receive, review, and promptly approve or
disapprove all requests of agencies of the state for the acquisition of
computer equipment or services, which are submitted in accordance with rules
and regulations of the authority. * * * If any such request is disapproved, he shall
immediately notify the requesting agency and the members of the authority in
writing of such disapproval, stating his reasons therefor. The disapproval of
any request by the executive director of the authority may be appealed to the
authority or to the Public Procurement Review Board, respectively, in such
manner as may be authorized by such reasonable rules and regulations, * * *
which are
authorized to be adopted by the authority and by the Public Procurement Review
Board to govern the same. The executive director shall report the approval of
all such requests to the authority in such manner as may be directed by the
authority, and shall execute any such contracts only after complying with rules
and regulations which may be adopted by the authority in relation thereto. Any
contracts for personal or professional services entered into by the executive
director shall be exempted from the requirements of Section 25-9-120( * * *4) relating to submission of such
contract to the State Personal Service Contract Review Board and approval of
the State Personnel Board.
(g) He shall suggest and cause to be brought about cooperation between the several state agencies, departments and institutions in order that work may be done by one agency for another agency, and equipment in one agency may be made available to another agency, and suggest and cause to be brought about such improvements as may be necessary in joint or cooperative information technology operations.
(h) He shall be designated as the "Chief Information Confidentiality Officer" after being duly sworn to the oath of this office by the chairman of the authority and shall be responsible for administering the oath to other qualified officers he may designate.
(i) He shall appoint employees of the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services, or at his discretion, employees of other state agencies and institutions that are responsible for handling or processing data for any agency or institution other than that for which they are employed, to a position of information custodial care that shall be known as "Information Confidentiality Officer." The selection and swearing of all officers shall be reported to the authority at the next regular meeting and names, affirmation dates and employment dates shall be recorded in the permanent minutes of the authority.
SECTION 6. Section 43-13-123, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
43-13-123. The determination of the method of providing payment of claims under this article shall be made by the division, with approval of the Governor, which methods may be:
(a) By contract with insurance companies licensed to do business in the State of Mississippi or with nonprofit hospital service corporations, medical or dental service corporations, authorized to do business in Mississippi to underwrite on an insured premium approach, such medical assistance benefits as may be available, and any carrier selected under the provisions of this article is expressly authorized and empowered to undertake the performance of the requirements of that contract.
(b) By contract with an insurance company licensed to do business in the State of Mississippi or with nonprofit hospital service, medical or dental service organizations, or other organizations including data processing companies, authorized to do business in Mississippi to act as fiscal agent.
The division shall obtain
services to be provided under either of the above-described provisions in
accordance with the * * * State
Personnel Board procurement regulations.
The authorization of the foregoing methods shall not preclude other methods of providing payment of claims through direct operation of the program by the state or its agencies.
SECTION 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2014.