(JUNEAU) - The Alaska House of Representatives unanimously approved House Bill 313 by a vote of 34 to zero on Wednesday. Sponsored by House Judiciary Chair Rep. Lesil McGuire (R Anchorage), HB 313 allows the Department of Administration to try an electronic system of acquiring goods and services in a three-year pilot project. The project will include no more than two state departments and two other state-managed agencies or corporations that rely on procurement and supply management.

"For this project to accurately gauge how electronic procurement and supply management can help the state, the state needs a variety of testing situations," McGuire said. "However, as with any innovation, the experiment must first be tested in a smaller, more controlled environment."

McGuire said an electronic means of acquiring and managing supplies can cut administration costs while protecting the effectiveness of state services. With an experiment in electronic procurement, Alaska will join states that have already spent years on the innovation, such as Texas and Virginia. Virginia began its electronic procurement project in March of 2001, and continues to do government business online, from posting catalogs of vendors, to handling bids, facilitating payments, and providing contract data. A statewide electronic supply management system could save Alaska millions of dollars.

"Electronic supply management will save money in administration costs by reducing the time spent searching for materials, and by making less expensive goods and services easier to find," McGuire said. "The fiscal condition of the state requires us to actively and thoroughly explore how to reduce state costs without harming productivity."

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