WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Hudgins: Washington state must innovate while investing in tech

How much do taxpayers spend on computers and technology? The answer is hidden in line items throughout the state budget—and it may surprise you.

“About two billion dollars,” said Rep. Zack Hudgins, D-Tukwila, the chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government. “That’s how much we estimate we spend on information technology and computers. So it’s important that we do it right.”

Hudgins has a background in the tech business from working for Amazon.com and at Microsoft, and he says information technology is tough, complicated and vital.

“These day, it is more likely citizens don’t drive down to an office building and talk to a clerk to find out what forms they need to fill out,” Hudgins said. “They fire up their computer or smartphone and want to find what they need to know immediately—or fill out a form online and get an answer right away. That’s a sea change from how we’ve done business for hundreds of years. Now every single state agency, big or small, is making that switch which is made tougher by the need to maintain old systems for the 30 percent of people with no Internet access.”

Hudgins has been traveling the state to talk with technology experts, business leaders and other lawmakers about how to use innovative technology to do things better, faster and cheaper.

“Things are changing fast, and our laws and state agencies need to keep up,” Hudgins said. “Washington state has been a leader in tech, both in the private sector and the state, but we can’t rest on that history. We’ve got to keep on innovating, to listen to citizens and build partnerships so our schools, universities and infrastructure work together to create the jobs of the future in every corner of our state.”

While in Spokane, Hudgins heard about IT innovations in health care. The health care exchange is a big deal and a new endeavor for state government. While hiccups at the national level have grabbed the majority of headlines, Washington state’s system, Healthplanfinder, has quietly helped over 140,000 Washingtonians access affordable, quality health care since the beginning of October, and it’s seen as a national success.

While in Leavenworth at a conference for IT business leaders, Hudgins heard about the need to invest in education. IT isn’t just driven by servers and code, someone has to maintain all the blinking lights. These people are being trained now in our schools for the next generation of information technology.

Next up for Representative Hudgins is an update on IT issues put into the state budget regarding the new Data Center, security, and PC procurement. The update will come during the General Government Appropriations hearing during Committee Assembly in Nov. 21.