South Carolina General Assembly
110th Session, 1993-1994

Bill 1294


Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter


                    Current Status

Introducing Body:               Senate
Bill Number:                    1294
Primary Sponsor:                Giese
Committee Number:               12
Type of Legislation:            GB
Subject:                        Science and Technology Office
Residing Body:                  Senate
Current Committee:              Labor, Commerce &
                                Industry
Computer Document Number:       BBM/9055JM.94
Introduced Date:                19940323    
Last History Body:              Senate
Last History Date:              19940323    
Last History Type:              Introduced, read first time,
                                referred to Committee
Scope of Legislation:           Statewide
All Sponsors:                   Giese
Type of Legislation:            General Bill



History


Bill  Body    Date          Action Description              CMN  Leg Involved
____  ______  ____________  ______________________________  ___  ____________

1294  Senate  19940323      Introduced, read first time,    12
                            referred to Committee

View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A BILL

TO ESTABLISH THE OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AS AN INDEPENDENT AGENCY OF THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH OF STATE GOVERNMENT FOR THE PURPOSE OF EVALUATING TECHNOLOGY FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS AND MAKING FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING SUCH TECHNOLOGY, AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THIS OFFICE AND FOR RELATED MATTERS.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. The General Assembly recognizes that a wealth of advanced technology is available in the United States which is either under-utilized or not utilized at all by state and local governments. Such advanced technology can, in many cases, be very effectively applied to the operations of state and local governments in reducing their operating costs. Therefore, it is the intent of this act to provide an unbiased and objective mechanism to evaluate advanced technology and its applicability to state and local government operations and to make finite recommendations for the adoption or utilization of such technology. It is also the intent of this act to structure this mechanism and its management in a comprehensive manner and at the most affordable cost possible.

SECTION 2. There is established the Office of Science and Technology as an independent agency of the executive branch of state government. The governing board of the Office of Science and Technology is composed of three persons appointed by the Governor for terms of four years each. The Governor shall designate one of these persons as the governing board's chairman who shall serve in such capacity for a term of two years and who may not serve consecutive terms as chairman. Vacancies on the governing board must be filled in the same manner as original appointment.

The governing board shall meet at least once a month and may meet more often upon the call of the chairman.

The members of the governing board of the Office of Science and Technology must be residents of South Carolina and must be appointed from the academic faculty and staff of the state-supported institutions of higher learning in South Carolina. The members of the governing board must be well-versed in at least one of the following areas of science and technology: medicine; the physical sciences; computer science; engineering; or other applicable discipline.

The permanent staff of the Office of Science and Technology shall consist of one administrative assistant and one word processing specialist, to be hired by the chairman and paid an annual salary as may be appropriated by the General Assembly in the annual general appropriation act.

Members of the governing board shall receive the usual mileage, subsistence, and per diem as allowed by law for members of state boards, committees, and commissions for each day they are actually engaged in the work of this office but shall serve without compensation except for periods of time when actively involved in projects of the Office of Science and Technology, in which event the members of the governing board shall be compensated at the same rate as an associate member under Section 3, plus ten percent.

SECTION 3. The governing board of the Office of Science and Technology shall appoint a group of persons to serve as associate members of the Office of Science and Technology, from which shall be appointed project teams, when necessitated under the provisions of this act, to evaluate technology for state or local government and to make findings and recommendations concerning that technology. The associate membership must be selected on an as-needed basis from the academic faculty and staff of the state-supported institutions of higher learning in the State, without exception, unless a particular scientific discipline is not available from those institutions of higher learning. The disciplines of the associate membership of the Office of Science and Technology shall include, but not be limited to, medicine, the physical sciences, computer science, engineering, or other applicable discipline. An associate member shall receive the usual mileage, subsistence, and per diem as allowed by law for members of state boards, committees, and commissions, as well as compensation of four hundred dollars a day, for each day the associate member is actually engaged in the work of the Office of Science and Technology, such compensation, mileage, subsistence, and per diem to be paid directly to the associate member unless other arrangements are made between the associate member and the institution of higher learning with which such member is associated. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the compensation rate of four hundred dollars a day may be decreased or increased upon the recommendation of the governing board of the Office of Science and Technology and with the approval of the State Budget and Control Board, based upon the current, normal rate at any particular time for the professional service rendered by associate members under this act.

SECTION 4. A request for the evaluation of technology and its application to state or local government in South Carolina must be made in accordance with this act and such request may be made by any state agency, any local government, any organized citizens association or group, any vendor of the technology, or any other private sector group. Such request must be made either to the Office of the Governor or to the General Assembly or either house of the General Assembly. In the event the request is made to the Office of the Governor, the Governor must be the one who authorizes the activation of a project team of associate members of the Office of Science and Technology under this act. In the event the request is made to the Senate, the president and the president pro tempore and the chairmen of the Finance Committee and the Judiciary Committee must together authorize the activation of a project team. In the event the request is made to the House of Representatives, the Speaker and the Speaker pro tempore and the chairmen of the Ways and Means Committee and the Judiciary Committee must together authorize the activation of a project team. In the event the request is made to both houses of the General Assembly jointly, the President of the Senate, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the House, and the Speaker Pro Tempore of the House must together authorize the activation of a project team.

SECTION 5. Accompanying the request made under Section 4 must be a sufficient amount of hard scientific facts or evidence upon which to base the justification for the activation of a project team. Upon receipt of proper authorization for a project team, the governing board of the Office of Science and Technology must, within ten days of the receipt of such authorization and such accompanying data, review all material, form a project team from the associate membership of the Office of Science and Technology appointed under authority of Section 3, and designate a project team leader if necessary. When forming the project team, the members of the governing board of the Office of Science and Technology must make a good faith effort to choose team members from as many different appropriate state-supported institutions of higher learning as possible. To this end, the members of the governing board must avoid choosing all team members from one institution unless to do otherwise would severely handicap the team's efforts.

SECTION 6. Whenever a request for technology evaluation is made by a state agency or a local government and the technology, if applied, would benefit only the requesting party, the Governor, at his option, may require the requesting party to fund, either in whole or in part, the cost of the evaluation, which costs must be paid from funds already budgeted to or in the possession of the requesting party.

SECTION 7. During the process of evaluation by the project team, the person, entity, group, or organization initiating the request under Section 4 has the right to appear before the project team for clarification of data. Such appearance shall be authorized upon written request to the chairman of the governing board of the Office of Science and Technology.

SECTION 8. Upon completion of the project team's evaluation and recommendations, the chairman of the governing board of the Office of Science and Technology shall promptly cause these findings and recommendations to be reduced to a final written report by the permanent staff of the Office of Science and Technology and shall provide copies of the report to the Governor, the officers of both houses of the General Assembly, the person, entity, group, or organization which initiated the request pursuant to Section 4, and to the news media if requested by the media.

SECTION 9. The project team under this act must be comprised of professionals possessing the academic disciplines required by the subject of the project, and each technology evaluation and review must be carried out on a project-oriented basis. All projects must be performed effectively and as expediently as possible.

SECTION 10. In any review or evaluation of technology, only hard scientific facts and evidence may be considered. The findings and recommendations of the project team must be limited to such scientific facts and principles and may not be influenced by special interests, previous policy of any governmental entity, political interests, or the race, creed, color, religion, rank, position, or national origin of any person who may be directly or indirectly associated with the technology involved. The final decision of any project team must be based solely upon what is best for the operations of the State or a local government and such government's citizens in order to promote more efficient and economical operations of state or local government.

SECTION 11. The findings and recommendations of the Office of Science and Technology, as contained in the final written report pursuant to Section 8, are binding upon state government or the local government involved and are not subject to amendment or revision, except as expressly provided in this act.

SECTION 12. When the party initiating the request under Section 4 disagrees with any of the findings contained in the final written report under Section 8, such requesting party may appeal to the chairman of the governing board of the Office of Science and Technology for a reexamination of such finding or findings, provided that such appeal is accompanied by new scientific data or by additional clarification to the existing data which was not available to the project team. The chairman may then, at his discretion, reconvene the project team to consider the new information. If new findings or recommendations, or both, result from the project team's consideration of the new information, then an amendment must be made to the original written report under Section 8.

SECTION 13. Whenever applicable or appropriate, the chairman of the governing board of the Office of Science and Technology or the leader of a project team activated under the provisions of this act shall seek and maintain contact with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Office of Technology Utilization and Transfer and the United States Department of Defense's Division of Technology Review and Assessment as additional information resources in the advanced technology available to the State and to local governments.

SECTION 14. The governing board of the Office of Science and Technology shall, in accordance with law, promulgate regulations necessary and appropriate for the enforcement and administration of the provisions of this act.

SECTION 15. This act takes effect July 1, 1994.

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