Electronic Filing System

Proposal
Texas Ethics Commission
January 31, 2013
Purpose of Presentation

Familiarize Commission,
Legislative Staff and Public with
Current Needs and Proposal for a
New Electronic Filing System

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Background

This a “System”
Can’t Get it “Off-the-Shelf”
Ethics Commissions and Laws Vary
Significantly State To State
DIR Assistance
Estimates Ranged up to $6.2 Million

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What is the Desired Goal?

One Integrated Filing Platform

Robust Data Administration
Intuitive Filing for All Filers
Streamlined Software Maintenance
* TEC maintains the system
Own our Software
Efficiency = Cost Savings
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What Do We Have Now?
Electronic Filing Programs and the
Platforms They Run On
Campaign Finance
TX-CFS
Microsoft Platforms only: XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8
Visual Basic 6
Purchased from NIC – GA 2000
Modified for the State of Texas in 1998-1999
Webfiler
Platform independent
Browser limitations
Developed in-house 2007
Coldfusion, Java, HTML, PHP

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What Do We Have Now?
Electronic Filing Programs and the
Platforms They Run On
Lobby
TX-LFS
Microsoft Platforms only: XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8
Visual Basic 6
Developed in-house 2004 - modeled after TX-CFS

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What Do We Have Now?
Electronic Filing Programs and the
Platforms They Run On
Personal Financial Statement (PFS)
PFS Software
Microsoft Platforms only: XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8
Visual Basic 6
Developed in-house 2009 – modeled after TX-CFS
Stores data on local PC
No electronic filing capability
Fillable PDF forms
No data storage on local PC
No electronic filing capability

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What Do We Have Now?
Electronic Filing Programs and the
Platforms They Run On
Agency Management System (AMS)
TEC front end access tool to manage filer records
Microsoft Platforms only: XP, Windows 7
Visual Basic 6
Written by NIC specifically for TEC – GA 2000

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What Do We Have Now?
Databases
Oracle 10g
Stores filer raw data
Disjointed tables – adhoc
MySQL
Stores website search data
Excel spreadsheets

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What Do We Have Now?
Hardware
Windows PCs – front end
Unix servers – backend

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What Do We Have Now?
State of current system
Functional – it currently works
Difficult to maintain
Software – aging programs
State of Texas programs are entering end-of-life
Visual Basic Programming language is deprecated
Microsoft no longer supports the development platform
Windows 8 is likely the last platform for required run-time
libraries
Hardware – aging servers
Oracle server - end of life

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What We Want
Electronic Filing Programs and the
Platforms on Which They Will Run
Integrated System
Client filing applications
Platform independent
Web based
Mobile
Intuitive guidance for the filer (think TurboTax)
Pleasant user experience
Comprehensive internal management tools
Robust data management
Financial accounting system
Comprehensive, flexible reporting capabilities
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What We Want
Database
Oracle 11g
Well planned tables
Financial accounting system
Hardware - backend
Current TEC Linux servers
New Linux servers

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What We Want
New Electronic Filing System Use
Cases
Filers:
DFS:

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How Rolling Reporting Fits In

Vendors’ Estimates Accounted for

Possibility of Rolling Reporting
At the Discretion of the Legislature

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Current Electronic Filing System Proposal

$3.5 Million Custom Software

Electronic Filing System:
* Campaign Finance
* Lobby
* Personal Financial Statements
* Database
* Front end management tools
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Status of Current Proposal

Proposed in TEC Legislative

Appropriations Request (LAR)
Upgraded Technology is
Recommended by Sunset
Commission

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Steps We’ll Take if Proposal is Adopted
Contract Out Statement of Work
Let the Project Out for Bid (DBITS)
- Deliverables-Based IT Services
Contract for Project
Work closely with Vendor Providing
Oversight, Resources and Expertise
until Completion
We Maintain the System
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Estimated Time Frame Until Completion

1.5 to 2 years
May Be Impacted By:
* New Laws
* Additional/Less Requirements
* Lack of Sufficient Funding
etc . . .

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Conclusion

Summary
* Now is the Time
* . . . very, very difficult
* Quality Staff (We are the Experts)
Questions?

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