Source: By April M. Washington, Rocky Mountain News (CO), March 31, 2006
Colorado senators backed two key measures Thursday that are aimed at stepping up oversight of multimillion-dollar state contracts. The unanimous passage of Senate Bills 63 and 64 came a day after state auditors told lawmakers that they found haphazard management of contracts awarded to private vendors. ..... Tech's SB 63 requires the state to train managers to oversee computer projects worth more than $5 million, and to hire consultants with such expertise. The companion measure by Sen. Peter Groff, D-Denver, would put in place tougher vendor-performance standards. It would require state agencies to closely monitor contracts over $500,000 and would create a centralized database to track vendors' work. It also would require state agencies to disclose how and why a particular vendor was selected. State agencies also would have to include performance measures and standards in all contracts and present periodic progress reports to the Legislative Council.
