Recently in Laws/Legislation Category

Source: Stevens Point Journal (WI), Oct 10, 2009

State Sen. Julie Lassa, D-Stevens Point, has circulated The Truth in State Contracting Act, designed to increase transparency, accountability and cost savings in state government contracting.The Joint Audit Committee last week heard that nearly 60 percent of cost-benefit analyses of Department of Transportation engineering consultant contracts from March 2007 through June 2008 showed state staff members could have done the work less expensively -- a trend Lassa said extends throughout state government.

Source:  Sean Holstege, Arizona Republic, Oct. 16, 2009 12:00 AM

The  Arizona has opened the gates to building the state's first private toll road, and would-be developers are poised to rush in.

When Gov. Jan Brewer signed the law in July allowing public-private partnerships to build toll roads, she granted Arizona more freedom than most states to cut such deals, experts say. Arizona Department of Transportation officials expect to set the rules early next year to put the law into action.

Source: By Ted Phillips, Bond Buyer, Monday, October 5, 2009

When the New York Legislature passed a bill in July to impose new restrictions and oversight on public authorities, the legislation's sponsor called it "the most thorough reform of the authority system in American history."

..... More than two months later, the bill has been neither signed nor vetoed as Gov. David Paterson's office negotiates with legislators over objections to the measure.

..... The state comptroller's office generally reviews all contracts for state agencies for more than $50,000. Just a few public agencies, such as the Long Island Power Authority and the New York State Thruway Authority, are currently required to submit contracts to the comptroller's office. Under the new bill, all authority contracts over $1 million would be subject to review by the office.

 

Source: Cezary Podkul, Infrastructure Investor, September 26, 2009

 ...... The law, California Government Code Section 1090, states that public "employees shall not be financially interested in any contract made by them in their official capacity". But because "employees" has been interpreted over the years to include consultants, a sell-side advisor could very well fall within the scope of the law.

And if that turns out to be the case, then JP Morgan's financial relationships with prospective bidders for the parking assets, such as lending arrangements, could lead to a 1090 violation, which is a felony that could result in prison time.

Source: Aaron Deslatte, Orlando Sentinel (FL), May 27, 2009 9:49:13 PM


Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed a state contracting bill Wednesday evening, claiming the bill would inject "unnecessary uncertainty" over the process of hiring private vendors through state agencies.

The bill, SB 2694, was sponsored by Senate Ways and Means Chairman J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, a critic of rampant contracting woes that resulting from the state's attempts to privatize various government services, largely under then-Gov. Jeb Bush.

Source:By GARY FINEOUT, Herald Times (FL), Sunday, May 24, 2009 at 12:20 a.m.

 

Reeling from a string of questionable and multimillion-dollar deals, legislators this year decided to crack down on future contracts with the state of Florida.  But the solution crafted by the lawmakers calls for a dramatic curb of the power of Gov. Charlie Crist and other elected members of the Cabinet, by handing more control over contracts to the Republican-controlled Legislature. It comes at a time when Crist is running for the U.S. Senate, and when there is a chance that the next governor could be a Democrat. 

...... The level of control would go across a range of state government, from law enforcement to environmental protection to emergency management.

And it would include purchase-lease contracts as low as $500,000 and single-vendor contracts as low as $10 million. The state's budget is more than $66 billion.

 Source:By David McGrath Schwartz, Cy Ryan, Las Vegas Sun (NV), Fri, May 8, 2009

 

Assemblywoman Debbie Smith wants stricter oversight of state government consultants. The Reno Democrat has sponsored legislation, Assembly Bill 463, to require that current state employees undergo a one-year cooling off period before seeking work as a consultant. It would also require detailed reports on the use of consultants by state agencies and require the state auditor and controller to audit the state's use of consultants.

...... Smith has the support of the Nevada Taxpayers Association and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.  Dennis Mallory, representing AFSCME, said, "It's staggering how much money is wasted."

 

Source: AFSCME Oregon, e-lert #16  May 1, 2009

AFSCME is leading a big fight over HB 2989, which includes language that addresses community mental health, substance abuse and developmental disabilities programs, asserting that if the Oregon Department of Human Services determines that the program operated or contracted for by the county is not satisfactory, DHS would "contract with another public agency or private corporation to provide the program ...."

In other words, they want to privatize county mental health services.

 

Out of the 36 Oregon counties, currently half -- 18 -- are county-based mental health operations, while the other 18 counties contract those services out to some type of private, non-profit group.

Source: BY CHRIS MEGERIAN, Star Ledger (NJ), Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Private contractors will have more authority to oversee and perform toxic waste cleanups, part of a broad overhaul of state environmental policies approved yesterday by the Legislature.

Environmental groups say the bill (A2962) will weaken government oversight, but legislators and the cash-strapped Department of Environmental Protection say it's necessary to eliminate a backlog of more than 20,000 toxic sites across the state. 

Source: Chicago Sun Times, April 27, 2009


....... We're talking about the aldermen's poor track record slowing down Mayor Daley's lightning-quick efforts to privatize city assets.

At least three such deals -- to lease the Skyway, Midway Airport and city parking meters -- have been rammed through the City Council.

Most recently, in December, aldermen had just two days to deliberate before voting on the $1.2 billion deal to lease the parking meters to a private group for 75 years.

Now -- inspired, perhaps, by the depth of outrage over the botched rollout of privatized parking meters -- aldermen are fighting back.

Allen last week introduced an ordinance to require a 30-day waiting period before a vote on any significant privatization deal.