Wagner Calls for Reform of
Methods for Awarding Contracts
Auditor General Jack Wagner today called for the Rendell administration to reform its process of awarding contracts to private vendors after finding the state paid $592 million to Deloitte Consulting LLP for computer-related services over a four-year period while also giving it an additional $2.25 million in economic-development grants to help it service those same state contracts.
The 179-page report on Pennsylvania's dealing with Deloitte concluded that a single state agency should coordinate all contract awards and the Legislature should consider new laws to "tighten up and centralize" the bidding process, Wagner said during a news conference Wednesday.
"This is a textbook case of what happens when accountability, competition and transparency are not present in the daily operation of state government," Wagner said.
Department of General Services Secretary James Creedon said Wagner's report concludes that no laws were violated in the way contracts were awarded, nor did the audit find any ethics concerns. The entire audit focuses on past deficiencies, which have now been corrected, he said.
No state in the nation has undertaken a more dramatic and successful reorganization and consolidation of its procurement and IT operations to better incorporate private sector best practices than the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, he said.
Creedon added that by centralizing all procurement operations, the state has saved taxpayers $320 million over the past five years.
information gleaned from 2 news releases e-mailed from Commonwealth Media Services, the auditor general's Web site and Wagner's news conference aired on PCN.
The 179-page report on Pennsylvania's dealing with Deloitte concluded that a single state agency should coordinate all contract awards and the Legislature should consider new laws to "tighten up and centralize" the bidding process, Wagner said during a news conference Wednesday.
"This is a textbook case of what happens when accountability, competition and transparency are not present in the daily operation of state government," Wagner said.
Department of General Services Secretary James Creedon said Wagner's report concludes that no laws were violated in the way contracts were awarded, nor did the audit find any ethics concerns. The entire audit focuses on past deficiencies, which have now been corrected, he said.
No state in the nation has undertaken a more dramatic and successful reorganization and consolidation of its procurement and IT operations to better incorporate private sector best practices than the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, he said.
Creedon added that by centralizing all procurement operations, the state has saved taxpayers $320 million over the past five years.
information gleaned from 2 news releases e-mailed from Commonwealth Media Services, the auditor general's Web site and Wagner's news conference aired on PCN.
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