Virginia’s expensive new state IT system does not have network backups in case connections between its computers fail. In just five weeks this fall, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles suffered 12 computer system outages, putting individual offices out of business for a total of more than 100 hours. One outage lasted 29 hours, another 17.

RICHMOND, VA—Despite warnings from lawmakers to back off, the state’s computer chief quietly reopened negotiations with Northrop Grumman over additional services that could add millions to Virginia’s information-technology bill. State officials yesterday could not provide the cost but said it might be lower than an estimate this summer by General Assembly investigators of $30 million to $40 million.

While acknowledging parts of a Northrop Grumman fix-it plan for the government’s troubled IT network could work, Virginia is not retreating from its claim that the giant company has violated its contract with the state. Northrop Grumman, hired under a 10-year, $2.3 billion contract that is at least a year behind schedule, is asking for more time and a freer hand to complete Virginia’s switch to a privately managed information-technology system.

Extra computers are headed to health offices as part of Virginia’s response to swine flu after the company providing IT services to the state initially resisted supplying the gear because it was uncertain it would be paid. Northrop Grumman attributes the holdup to a misunderstanding. The Virginia Health Department blames confusion that, once cleared up, led to a better deal for the agency.

FAIRFAX The ground was soft and muddy, but the atmosphere was jovial. Gov. Tim Kaine and then-Attorney General Bob McDonnell were in attendance. Fried pies were being served and bluegrass music was playing under the big tent. This was the scene of the 2006 groundbreaking for Northrop Grumman’s new IT facility being built in the town of Lebanon. And this momentous occasion—along with the hundreds of new jobs that came with it—was a result of the IT Infrastructure Partnership between the company and the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA).

Lawmakers are warning the state’s computer chief and Northrop Grumman against ramming through potentially pricey changes in a disputed contract ahead of a looming shakeup in Virginia’s information-technology bureaucracy. Though by law it falls to Chief Information Officer George F. Coulter to accept or reject revisions, he and Northrop Grumman’s Virginia project boss, Samuel Abbate, were told modifications should be vetted by the next governor and General Assembly.

State lawmakers are floating the idea of using the budget as a hammer to force the state’s IT contractor to make do with $236 million in annual payments. Members of the House Appropriations Committee yesterday criticized both the state and Northrop Grumman during a nearly two-hour report on a state watchdog group’s investigation of the state’s privatization deal. The budget writers spread the blame—poking at everything from the state’s lack of an accurate count of its equipment to murky language in the contract with Northrop Grumman.

Lobbyists and executives for Northrop Grumman are quietly pressing General Assembly investigators to soften a report that was sharply critical of the company for failing to deliver computer services to the state on time. Northrop Grumman representatives met privately yesterday for more than two hours with staff members of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to discuss possible revisions in JLARC’s findings.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and legislators are warning the state’s computer contractor, Northrop Grumman, that they won’t allow Virginia’s privately run IT system to become a money pit. Following the release yesterday of a General Assembly report sharply critical of Northrop Grumman and the state’s information-technology bureaucracy, lawmakers told the company that righting the embattled, 10-year, $2.3 billion project should not come at additional cost, particularly when Virginia is slashing spending by billions to balance its budget.

The finger-pointing over Virginia’s troubled move to a privately run IT system is extending to the governor’s race. Democrat R. Creigh Deeds—in response to a Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission report critical of the state’s contract with Northrop Grumman—blamed Republican Bob McDonnell for headaches surrounding the deal.

Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission says Virginia gave “low priority” to the giant contractor’s background in the management of large-scale state computer and communication systems.

Despite turmoil within its information-technology program and the potential for more, Virginia may not have the money to dump Northrop Grumman as its computer contractor and fashion an alternative, General Assembly investigators warn. In a sweeping examination of Virginia’s troubled contract with Northrop Grumman, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission also proposes turning over control of the state’s IT agency to the governor by allowing him to choose its chief. That would end the current structure of shared oversight by the chief executive and lawmakers.

The state’s new computer boss says possible changes in a disputed contract with Northrop Grumman for information-technology services will not have a “substantial financial impact.“ Without elaborating on cost, George F. Coulter, head of the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, said yesterday that Attorney General Bill Mims will review the proposed revisions beginning next week.

Fallout from a controversial shift to a privately run computer network has some Virginia leaders rethinking their affinity for outsourcing. But the state, if only for financial reasons, shows no sign of retreating from what some call “government by contract.“ “This privatizing has got to stop,“ said Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw of Fairfax County, a business-friendly Democrat. “That’s become an excuse for not paying for services. . . . What are you going to do for your next act—sell the Capitol?“

Virginia’s new computer chief expects the giant company hired to run the state’s problem-plagued information-technology network to control costs. George F. Coulter, chief information officer, yesterday said he has even pressed Northrop Grumman to dismiss several lawyers and a marketing firm because their services were billed to the state.