SEARCH SITE

VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL

SEARCHABLE DATABASES

ACROSS SESSIONS

Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.

2018 SESSION

18105903D
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 345
Offered February 22, 2018
Commending the Department of General Services.
----------
Patron-- Davis
----------

WHEREAS, in the fall of 2001, the Department of General Services launched the first fully electronic, online procurement system of any state government, known as eVA; and

WHEREAS, because of the leadership of the Department of General Services and the support of five governors and the Virginia General Assembly, eVA has become an enterprise-wide system used by more than 11,000 purchasing professionals in 245 state agencies, institutions of higher education, authorities, and other public bodies; and

WHEREAS, the Department of General Services eVA program is used at no cost for a range of procurement functions by 900 local public bodies, including school systems, authorities, airports, and county, city, and town governments; and

WHEREAS, the combined purchasing power of state and local organizations using the Department of General Services eVA program results in savings of $30 million per year, totaling over $450 million since the program began; and

WHEREAS, the Department of General Services eVA program has opened the doors to state and local purchasing to more than 91,000 businesses, with 85,000 receiving purchase orders, including 18,600 small, women, and minority vendors; and

WHEREAS, the Department of General Services eVA program facilitates this competition for state and local business by providing all of its tools to a business for no charge, with the business paying only a small fee when it is successful in receiving a purchase order; and

WHEREAS, the Department of General Services eVA program provides the public, taxpayers, and policymakers a transparent view of state spending; and

WHEREAS, the Department of General Services and its eVA program have continued to make the Commonwealth a national leader in online procurement by introducing innovative functionality and maintaining a continuous commitment to improvement; Virginia was the first state to implement a mobile application that allows state buyers and vendors to conduct and respond to procurements; and

WHEREAS, Virginia again led the way in 2016 by introducing a new function as part of the Department of General Services eVA program, called B2B Connect, which allows businesses—especially small businesses—to connect and collaborate with others in order to pursue state contracting opportunities; and

WHEREAS, the Department of General Services has won 11 consecutive National Achievement in Procurement Awards for eVA, and eVA was recognized in 2016 by Governing magazine as “The Way to Do e-Procurement”; and

WHEREAS, in 2017, the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) created the Cronin Heritage Award to recognize the history of excellence that the Cronin Awards represent; and

WHEREAS, when asked to select the past Cronin Gold Award winner they felt embodied the most innovative procurement initiative in the past decade, the membership of NASPO selected Virginia’s eVA Mobile apps; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend the Department of General Services for receiving the inaugural Cronin Heritage Award from the National Association of State Procurement Officials; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the director of the Department of General Services as an expression of the General Assembly’s admiration for the agency’s innovative contributions to thousands of Virginia businesses and the Commonwealth as a whole.