This is my personal axe to grind: A modern government requires programs, apps, websites, etc, but have to buy those from consultancies and third party private companies. However, even the smallest states should be able to afford some sort of in house "Software Team" that could solve most government software problems, or otherwise be a solutions team for local and state government needs. Even if an individual state cannot afford it, they can probably team up with neighbor states to do the same. American federal and state governments should absolutely be doing this kind of thing.
The issue is that half the country subscribes to an ideology, or at least votes for said ideology, where the government being allowed to do anything on its own without paying a private contractor with your tax dollars as unacceptable. These same people will then complain when the garbage solution foist upon them by Tyler Technologies or similar is predictably garbage.
People hatr it because the government is more often than not quite big bloated, incompetent and corrupt. What they less often see is that much of that structure arises from the misaligned incentives like the practical necessities of machine politics when government workers aren't well compensated directly vs the power they weild and direct scrutiny on their actions, and the patronage networks that arise as a result of that environment.
Teachers, Police, IRS, social services, EPA, wtc all suffer from this.
Corporations are also corrupt and exist to siphon money into the hands of a few from the hands of many while accomplishing as little as possible. Having a "bloated" government at least mean that people get jobs instead of mass layoffs to buy back stocks
Can states like NY create an in-house consultancy whose primary purpose is the state's own projects, but also make the services available to other smaller states as needed (for a price)?
The issue is that half the country subscribes to an ideology, or at least votes for said ideology, where the government being allowed to do anything on its own without paying a private contractor with your tax dollars as unacceptable. These same people will then complain when the garbage solution foist upon them by Tyler Technologies or similar is predictably garbage.