General Laws of Massachusetts - Chapter 7 Executive Office for Administration and Finance - Section 4A Departments and divisions

[ First paragraph effective until July 1, 2014. For text effective July 1, 2014, see below.]

  Section 4A. The executive office for administration and finance shall include a division of capital asset management and maintenance, which shall be headed by a commissioner as provided in section thirty-nine B, and a department of revenue as provided in chapter fourteen. In addition, the executive office for administration and finance shall include the following divisions: human resources, information technology, fiscal affairs and operational services, which divisions shall develop policy and standards to govern the conduct of commonwealth secretariats, departments, agencies, boards and commissions in each of these areas, and shall provide expertise and centralized processing to said secretariats, departments, agencies, boards, commissions and other entities of state government. The executive office shall also include an office of commonwealth performance, accountability and transparency.

[ First paragraph as amended by 2014, 165, Sec. 19 effective July 1, 2014. See 2014, 165, Sec. 291. For text effective until July 1, 2014, see above.]

  The executive office for administration and finance shall include a division of capital asset management and maintenance, which shall be headed by a commissioner as provided in chapter 7C, the Massachusetts office of information technology, which shall be headed by a chief information officer as provided in chapter 7D, a department of revenue, as provided in chapter 14, and an office of commonwealth performance, accountability and transparency. The executive office for administration and finance shall include the human resources division and the operational services division. The divisions, the offices and the department shall develop policies and standards to govern the conduct of commonwealth secretariats, departments, agencies, boards and commissions in each of these areas and shall provide expertise and centralized processing to secretariats, departments, agencies, boards, commissions and other entities of state government.

  (a) The operational services division shall be headed by a state purchasing agent who shall also serve as assistant secretary for operational services. He shall be appointed by the secretary with the approval of the governor. The state purchasing agent shall give bond to the state treasurer in a sum fixed by the governor for the faithful performance of his duties and for the rendering of a proper account of all money entrusted to him for the use of the commonwealth. The purchasing agent may establish within the division such bureaus and other units as are deemed necessary from time to time by the commissioner of administration for the purpose of carrying out the functions of the division. Such functions shall include, but not be limited to, the management of the acquisition of all goods, supplies, equipment and services, excepting the acquisition of such goods, supplies, equipment and services as otherwise provided for in any general or special law or in any administrative rule or regulation promulgated by the secretary, the provision of assistance and advice for such acquisitions, the administration of the state and federal surplus property programs, the administration of the collective purchasing program for the political subdivisions of the commonwealth, the administration and management of reproduction facilities, the management of state acquired vehicles including the use and maintenance thereof and such other functions as the purchasing agent, with the approval of the secretary, may from time to time deem necessary for the efficient and economical administration of the work of said division. The operational services division may charge and collect from statewide contractors a statewide contract administrative fee, to be established by the executive office for administration and finance; provided, however, that such fee shall not exceed 1 per cent of the total value of a contract awarded to a statewide contractor.

  (b) The human resources division shall he headed by a personnel administrator who shall also serve as assistant secretary for human resources. He shall be appointed by the secretary with the approval of the governor. Such personnel administrator shall be a person familiar with the principles and experienced in the methods and practices of personnel administration. The personnel administrator shall serve for a term of four years, which term shall end on June thirtieth of the first year of the term of the governor, except that he may be removed by the secretary, with the prior approval of the governor. A person so appointed shall serve until the qualification of his successor; provided, however, that in the case of a person appointed to fill a vacancy occurring during the prescribed term by reason of death, resignation or otherwise, the term of the successor in said office shall end on the next succeeding June thirtieth of the first year of the term of the governor. Within the human resources division shall also be the state office of affirmative action, the office of employee relations, the office of dispute resolution and the office of workers' compensation administration.

[ There is no paragraph (c).]

[ Paragraph (d) effective until July 1, 2014. Deleted by 2014, 165, Sec. 20. See 2014, 165, Sec. 291.]

  (d) The information technology division shall be headed by the chief information officer who shall also serve as assistant secretary for information technology and who shall be appointed by the secretary. The chief information officer shall carry out such functions as the commissioner may from time to time deem necessary for the efficient and economical administration of information technology systems within the executive departments including, but not limited to, setting information technology standards, reviewing and approving secretariat and department information technology strategic plans, reviewing and approving the planning, design, acquisition and operation of information technology systems, assessing the performance of information technology systems and operations, managing central information technology systems, and managing the commonwealth's mailing operations. He may establish such bureaus, offices and other functional units within the division as he may deem appropriate. The division may also offer information technology services to municipalities, authorities, constitutional offices, other political subdivisions of the commonwealth and other states of the United States where the provision of these services to other states will decrease the costs or improve the efficiency of the services provided by the information technology division to the commonwealth. The information technology division shall consult with the division of local services to identify ways to better assist municipalities and regional entities in procuring and developing information technology services.

  The division shall include an office of geographic information through which the chief information officer shall develop, maintain, update and distribute geographic information, technology, data and services for use by state agencies, municipalities and the public. The office shall coordinate all geographic information activities in state and local government, and shall collect, manage and distribute geographic information maintained by state agencies and local government agencies. It shall also provide technical services related to geographic information to state agencies and municipalities. The chief information officer shall set standards for the acquisition, management, and reporting of geographical information, and the acquisition, creation or use of applications employing such information, by any executive department agency, and the reporting of such information by municipalities.

  (e) The office of commonwealth performance, accountability and transparency shall be headed by an assistant secretary of commonwealth performance, accountability and transparency who shall be appointed by the secretary. The assistant secretary shall have at least 5 years experience in the area of performance management systems. The office shall: (1) execute a performance management program throughout the executive department including, within statutory limits for each agency, defining missions; creating measurable goals; establishing strategies for achieving those goals and relating them to budget development; (2) monitor and review federal grant applications made on behalf of the commonwealth and coordinate efforts to maximize federal revenue opportunities and oversight of compliance with federal reporting requirements; (3) ensure transparency of the commonwealth's administration and finance activities, including the operation of the searchable website required by section 14C; (4) establish and maintain a central intake unit for reports of fraud, waste and abuse; (5) establish and maintain an economic forecasting and analysis unit to coordinate all spending and revenue forecasting by state agencies and coordinate with the caseload and economic forecasting office established in section 4R; (6) perform the executive office's duties for privatization contracts under section 54; (7) reduce and simplify paperwork of state agencies and departments by adopting uniform forms or federal forms, if possible, when they are shorter than the corresponding state forms; (8) implement and streamline electronic paperwork options to better facilitate public interaction with state agencies; and (9) collaborate with other state agencies, authorities and other entities to carry out these purposes. The office shall oversee and coordinate the output of the performance measurement systems developed by each executive office under section 4A of chapter 6A. The office shall report quarterly the results reported by the performance measurement systems and progress on implementing the systems by each executive office to the chairs of the house and senate committees on ways and means, the chairs of the house and senate committees on post audit and oversight and the chairs of the joint committee on state administration and regulatory oversight.

  Except in the case of agencies named in section four G, the secretary may also from time to time establish within the executive office for administration and finance such other bureaus, sections and other administrative units not otherwise established by law as may be necessary for the efficient and economical administration of the work of said office and, when necessary for such purpose, he may abolish any bureau, section or other unit or he may merge any two or more of them. He shall prepare and keep current a general statement of the organization of said office and of the assignment of functions to its various administrative units, officials and employees. Such statement shall be known as the Description of Organization of said office and shall be kept on file in said office. A copy shall be kept on file in the office of the governor.

  In the event a new governmental mandate effective on or after July 1, 2004 is imposed upon a contractor providing a social service program, as defined in section 274 of chapter 110 of the acts of 1993, to a governmental unit, as defined in said section 274 of said chapter 110, and compliance with such governmental mandate has or will have a material adverse financial impact on the contractor, except a contractor for goods or services related to special education as defined in section 1 of chapter 71B, the governmental unit shall negotiate a contract amendment with the contractor to increase the maximum obligation amount or unit price to offset the material adverse financial impact of the new governmental mandate; provided, that the contractor furnishes substantial evidence to the governmental unit of such material adverse financial impact along with a request to renegotiate based on a new governmental mandate.

  For the purposes of this section, a "new governmental mandate'' shall mean a statutory requirement, administrative rule, regulation, assessment, executive order, judicial order or other governmental requirement that was not in effect when the contract was originally entered into and directly or indirectly imposes an obligation upon the contractor to take any action or to refrain from taking any action in order to fulfill its contractual duties.

  For the purposes of this section, a "material adverse financial impact'' shall mean: (1) an increase in the reasonable costs to the contractor in performing the contract of the lesser of: (i) 3 per cent of the maximum obligation amount or unit price of the contract; or (ii) $5,000, in the aggregate as a result of all such mandates in effect during the contract year; or (2) an action that affects the core purpose and primary intent of the contract.

  Any contractor aggrieved by a decision of a governmental unit denying or failing to negotiate a contract amendment to remedy a material adverse impact of a new governmental mandate pursuant to this section may appeal such adverse decision to the division of administrative law appeals in accordance with the section 4H for a hearing and decision de novo on all issues. A contractor's request for contract amendment shall, for purposes of appeal, be deemed to have been denied if a determination is not received within 30 days of the governmental unit's receipt of the request. A contractor or governmental unit may appeal an adverse decision of the division of administrative law appeals to the superior court, Suffolk division, pursuant to chapter 30A.

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Last modified: September 11, 2015