Secretary of State seeks money to replace dated technology

DES MOINES - Secretary of State Paul Pate is counting on technology to save his office, but that will require more money from the Legislature, he told lawmakers Tuesday.

'Technology will save us in the end,” he told the Administration and Regulation Appropriations Subcommittee, 'or we won't be able to keep pace.”

The business services division of his office processes 800 to 1,000 filings daily, handles 61,000 phone calls a year, processes 500,000 searches and filing requests, deals with 12,500 walk-in customers and processes 81,000 credit card transactions and 55,000 paper checks.

'We don't need people opening letters all day. We need them online helping people” because business customers want 'government on their schedule” - available online 24/7.

The challenge, however, is that the secretary of state's computer hardware is so old Oracle will no longer service it after May 31. Pate said his office probably will use Craigslist and other services to look for parts to keep technology running until it can be replaced.

Pate requested a $1.44 million base budget plus ongoing operational support of $300,000 for status quo staffing. Personnel costs and pass-through expenses - Capitol Complex Association fees, IT expenses and other shared services - have increased 34 percent in the business services and election services divisions, he said.

Pate asked for $575,000 to cover an annual operational deficit on top of the $1.44 million base budget for election services, which is involved in 260 elections a year. Part of the increase would be used to maintain state-mandated, election-night reporting, he said.

'After eight years of frozen appropriations,” his office will see cuts without additional funding, Pate said. That will increase the time needed to deliver services to Iowans and Iowa businesses.

l Comments: (319) 398-8375; james.lynch@thegazette.com