Computer upgrade plans in Louisiana changed

Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration is slowing plans for a $100 million upgrade to Louisiana government computer systems and instead will start with a pilot program at the transportation department, the governor's top budget adviser said Wednesday.

The slowdown comes after Treasurer John Kennedy questioned the expense and value of the project and suggested stalling it entirely. Kennedy appeared with Commissioner of Administration Angele Davis to announce the change.

Davis said the state will begin the upgrade in a year at the Department of Transportation and Development, which is deemed most at-risk to computer systems failure. The state then will take a year to review progress and find any problems, she said, before moving all state agencies to the new integrated computer system in July 2012.

"We'll get to test-fire. We'll get to see if it works. We'll get to see if we save any money," Kennedy said.

Previously, the new system was to go online for most departments by June.

Officials estimate the state will have spent $91 million by the time DOTD goes online, so the delay will save $9 million over the next two years. But Davis acknowledged those costs will be paid later - and could grow higher because of the delay - when the rest of the state's agencies move to the new computer system.

More than $52 million has been spent on the upgrade effort so far.

"We don't want to turn back and lose any of our investment," said state Sen. Mike Michot, R-Lafayette, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

Davis said the computer work, when complete, will shrink state spending on unnecessary duplication of work, employees and maintenance by integrating state computer systems. She said estimates show Louisiana could save up to $286 million over 10 years.

"This project is a cost-savings opportunity that is too important to pass up," Davis said.

The upgrade, which began during former Gov. Kathleen Blanco's administration, would mean nearly all state departments use one computer system to do their budget, accounting, state purchasing, inventory, contracting and facility management work.

Currently, that data is spread across dozens of different computer systems that, in some instances, are 15 to 20 years old, at risk of failure and too outdated to find workers who know the systems, officials have said.

The upgrade had become a flashpoint, however, in the debate over how to cut government costs amid years of projected budget shortfalls, with Kennedy questioning the cost savings projections and arguing the money would be better spent on other priorities.

On Wednesday, even as Kennedy applauded the governor's decision to begin the project as a pilot program at DOTD, the treasurer wouldn't commit that his office - through which all state revenue flows - will become a part of the new computer system if it proves successful at DOTD.

"If this project works, then we'll go to the next step. But I'm not going to predict the future," he said.

Besides Kennedy's office, all other state agencies have agreed to participate. The state's public colleges are not included in the computer upgrade.