John Thomas and Misty Anne Giles and procurement staff briefed the subcommittee on the newly separated State Procurement Services division and its responsibilities under the Montana procurement framework.

Misty Anne Giles said the state procurement act vests enterprise contracting authority in a single state agency and that the procurement division ‘‘delegates that authority out’’ to agencies while conducting compliance oversight. She described the division’s focus as ensuring ‘‘how you’re doing something’’ (process and legal compliance) rather than directing business decisions.

Division staff said the unit is small — about 12 staff in the division — and largely supported by general fund and state special revenue. Russ Catherman and procurement staff explained construction procurement functions are handled differently and may involve MDT and other agencies. Procurement staff said they processed roughly $972,000,000 in contracts in 2024, with a mix of solicitations and procurement types.

The division has created a certification program for procurement staff across agencies, introduced a ‘‘federal badge’’ for personnel who manage federally funded procurements, and now requires procurement planning and a year‑out procurement calendar. Procurement staff said these actions aim to reduce rushed procurements and improve competitive outcomes. On competition, Sarah Tzczak described a statutory change implemented in 2023 that closed competitor access to other bidders’ proposal presentations; she said that change has increased bidder participation in some solicitations from one or two bidders to dozens in other procurements.

Procurement staff discussed sole‑source and emergency procurements. They said there were seven intent‑to‑sole‑source notifications in 2024 compared with 98 RFPs; the division’s independent review committee vets sole‑source justifications regardless of dollar amount. The committee also reviews emergency procurements and fund‑expiration situations on a case‑by‑case basis and said it would provide justifications and lists to the subcommittee on request.

Committee members asked about IT procurements; procurement staff said IT is governed first by the Montana Information Technology Act and the CIO’s office and that those procurements then ‘‘trigger over to’’ the procurement division for contracting compliance. Staff said House Bill 113 is pending to standardize contract maximum terms at 10 years. The governor’s budget office confirmed the reorganization of procurement out of state financial services was a lateral move without new FTEs and said final technical budget adjustments will be provided to the committee.