The examples of what can go wrong are many. Take Mississippi, which has a high reliance on no-bid contracts. In 2014, the commissioner of the Department of Corrections (DOC) resigned and became the subject of a federal investigation for allegedly taking $2 million in bribes in exchange for steering prison contracts to a former lawmaker. In Colorado, an audit last year found poor oversight of more than one-third of the contracts surveyed in the state’s health exchange. The lack of follow-through to make sure vendors were complying with contract requirements was partially responsible for more than $400,000 in questionable costs.
When these problems make headlines, the response from lawmakers is usually swift and targeted. Last August, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant issued a pair of executive orders requiring more transparency when awarding contracts and requiring professional training for procurement officers in the DOC. While these legislative responses might tackle the specific problem at hand, such one-time fixes to procurement rules have led to a hodgepodge regulatory structure that makes sweeping overhauls daunting.
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