03 May Eight lawmakers named to Speaker's IT task force
Madison, Wis. – Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, and State Rep. Phil Montgomery, R-Green Bay, have named eight legislators to serve on the Speaker’s Task Force on Information Technology Failures.
The bipartisan task force is charged with exploring a number of failed information technology projects in state government, and learning from successful projects in the public and private sectors.
In addition to Montgomery, who will serve as chair of the task force, the public-sector appointees include the following members of the State Assembly: Sue Jeskewitz, R-Menomonee Falls; Don Pridemore, R-Hartford; Rep. Jim Ott, R-Mequon; Jeff Wood, R-Chippewa Falls; Louis Molepske, D-Stevens Point; Josh Zepnick, D-Milwaukee; and Mike Sheridan, D-Janesville.
They will be joined by eight private-sector members who will be announced next week.
The formation of the task force follows the recent release of an audit into state information technology projects by the Legislative Audit Bureau. The bureau cited six IT projects that have experienced cost overruns and delays, including one that was terminated this year after more than five years and $23 million invested. The estimated cost of these troubled implementations is more than $170 million.
Huebsch said the task force would work to ensure the state has safeguards in place to prevent more failed projects. “Taxpayers are already on the hook for more than $170 million in junked and failing technology projects,” Huebsch said in a release, “and should not be asked to pay for any more government mistakes.”
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