House Bill No. 5045
               House Bill No. 5045

               PUBLIC ACT NO. 98-16


AN  ACT  PROVIDING FOR THE ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION
OF PURCHASE ORDERS.


    Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and House of
Representatives in General Assembly convened:
    Section   1.   Section  4-98  of  the  general
statutes  is  repealed  and   the   following   is
substituted in lieu thereof:
    (a)  Except  for  such  emergency purchases as
are made by a budgeted  agency  under  regulations
promulgated  by the Commissioner of Administrative
Services, no budgeted agency nor any agent thereof
shall  incur any obligation, by order, contract or
otherwise, except by the issue of a purchase order
and  commitment transmitted by the budgeted agency
or  its  agents  to  the  commissioner   and   the
Comptroller,  provided  the  amount  to be charged
against the appropriation for a budgeted agency in
any year for a purchase order and commitment for a
current   expenditure   shall   be   the    amount
anticipated  to  be spent in such year. The amount
to be charged against the  appropriation  for  any
budgeted   agency   in  any  year  for  a  capital
expenditure,  including  an  instalment  purchase,
shall  be  the state's total cost for such capital
expenditure unless  otherwise  authorized  by  the
General   Assembly  or  approved  by  the  Finance
Advisory Committee. Upon the receipt of  any  such
purchase  order  and  commitment,  the Comptroller
shall immediately charge the same to the  specific
appropriation  of  the budgeted agency issuing the
same and certify on the face of the purchase order
that the purchase is approved and recorded, if the
proposed  commitment  is  within  the   applicable
specific appropriation and the budgeted agency has
unencumbered  funds  sufficient  to  defray   such
expenditure.   The   Comptroller   shall  promptly
transmit such  certified  purchase  order  to  the
vendor  named therein. [Any purchase order, except
an emergency purchase order herein  provided  for,
issued  to a vendor without the certificate of the
Comptroller stamped thereon shall be void.]
    (b)    Notwithstanding   the   provisions   of
subsection (a), the Comptroller may delegate to  a
budgeted agency the certification and transmission
requirements  of  this  section  and  authorize  a
budgeted  agency  to  retain the [original] AGENCY
COPY  OF  THE  purchase  order   and   commitment,
provided  said  agency  transmits  the information
contained in such purchase order and commitment to
the Comptroller. Such delegation and authorization
shall be made in accordance with procedures  which
the  Comptroller  shall  establish  in regulations
adopted  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of
chapter 54.
    (c)    NOTWITHSTANDING   THE   PROVISIONS   OF
SUBSECTION (a), THE COMPTROLLER  MAY  DELEGATE  TO
ANY   BUDGETED   AGENCY   THE   CERTIFICATION  AND
TRANSMISSION OF PURCHASE ORDERS  USING  ELECTRONIC
METHODS,   PROVIDED   SUCH  AGENCY  TRANSMITS  THE
INFORMATION CONTAINED IN SUCH ORDER AND COMMITMENT
TO THE COMPTROLLER.
    [(c)]  (d)  Notwithstanding  the provisions of
subsection (a), the Comptroller may allow budgeted
agencies  to use purchasing cards for purchases of
one thousand dollars or less. No budgeted  agency,
or  any  official, employee or agent of a budgeted
agency, shall incur any obligation  using  such  a
card,   except   in   accordance  with  procedures
established by the Comptroller.
    Sec. 2. This  act  shall  take  effect July 1,
1998.

Approved April 24, 1998