The 1978 Session of the General Assembly of Virginia passed Senate Joint Resolution No. 73, requesting the Department of Management Analysis and Systems Development to formulate certain guidelines and conduct a study relating to State data systems.

The resolution resulted from a review of the first "Report of Existence of Information Systems Containing Personal Information." This report was a requirement of the Privacy Protection Act of 1976: Section 2.1-383 "every agency shall make report to the Department of Management Analysis and Systems Development of the existence of any information system which it operates or develops which will include a description of the nature of the data in the system and purpose for which it is used. The Department shall compile and arrange the information so received and annually provide the same to the Secretary of the Commonwealth. Such information shall be made available for inspection by the general public…"

The first report, for fiscal year ending June 30, 1977, was a 760-page document that listed the 2,647 systems and approximately 140,000 data items by 491 jurisdictions of State and Local Government. Concerns expressed when the report was examined resulted in the three requirements of SJR No. 73:

1. Guidelines are needed to uniformly determine which personal data systems may be considered to contain only "routine information" within the meaning of the Act.

2. What is the possibility of eliminating duplication in State personal data systems through data systems centralization in order to bring about greater economies and efficiencies in State data management?

3. Is it appropriate and necessary to the purposes of State or local government to collect and maintain information concerning political or religious convictions of any person?

During the drafting of SJR No. 73 consideration was given to funding the development of guidelines, estimated at two person years of effort. An alternative to additional funding was to give the Department of Management Analysis and Systems Development (MASD) two years to absorb the task as a routine activity. However, SJR No. 73 was enacted with a one-year reporting deadline: to the 1979 Session of the General Assembly.

This study was conducted within these constraints of no additional funding and reduced time expectations. Further, the reorganization of MASD by the 1978 Session of the General Assembly (setting up a separate Department of Computer Services and assigning new duties to MASD) severely limited time available to devote to SJR No. 73.