Don't Reinvent the Wheel

Let’s talk about state contracts for a minute. The first thing that should be done is to look at the state contract process. In February of 2005 Auditor Crit Luallen released a report on Kentucky’s Administration and Management of Master Agreements and Catalog Master Agreements.

The Performance Audit made the following findings:

• Kentucky’s Procurement System Cannot Calculate the Number of Items Purchased or the Amount Spent on a Particular Item
• There Is No Formal Method for Strategic Analysis of State Government Expenditures
• The Legal Authority for Establishing Contracts Is Not Cited Accurately
• Additional Procurement Training Is Needed Within State Agencies
• Kentucky May Not Be Obtaining the Lowest Available Prices
• Regular Compliance Reviews Are Not Being Conducted by the Finance and Administration Cabinet

So here is another idea for Governor Steve Beshear and Finance Secretary Jonathan Miller, don’t reinvent the wheel if you don’t have too, some of the homework has already been done for you. I seriously doubt that Ernie Fletcher and company addressed this findings. My guess is that if the audit was again the same problems would still be there.

By the way in case someone says they never knew this was a problem, here is the distribution list for the report.

Robbie Rudolph, Secretary, Finance and Administration Cabinet
House Speaker, Jody Richards
Senate President, David Williams
Representative Harry Moberly, Chair, House Appropriations and Revenue Committee
Representative John Arnold, Vice Chair, House Appropriations and Revenue Committee
Representative Bob DeWeese, Vice Chair, House Appropriations and Revenue Committee
Representative Fred Nesler, Vice Chair, House Appropriations and Revenue Committee
Representative Joni Jenkins, Vice Chair, House Appropriations and Revenue Committee
Representative Robin Webb, Vice Chair, House Appropriations and Revenue Committee
Senator Charlie Borders, Chair, Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee
Senator Ernie Harris, Vice Chair, Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee
Senator Katie Stine, Co-Chair, Program Review and Investigations Committee
Representative Charlie Hoffman, Co-Chair, Program Review and Investigations Committee
Stan Cave, Chief of Staff
Brad Cowgill, State Budget Director
James Nelson, State Librarian and Commissioner, Department for Libraries and Archives
Robert Sherman, Director, Legislative Research Commission
Ginny Wilson, Deputy Director for Research and Finance, Legislative Research Commission
Kathy King, CSA, Appropriations and Revenue Committee
Michael Meeks, CSA, Government Contract Review Committee
Greg Hager, CSA, Program Review and Investigation Committee
Mike Burnside, Director of Office of Material and Procurement Services, Finance and Administration Cabinet
Gary Freeland, Department of Education
Cindy Gosser, Cabinet for Economic Development
Jackie Watkins, Cabinet for Health and Human Services
Jimmie Richerson, Kentucky State Police
Roy Brothers, Commerce Cabinet
Roberta McCann, Attorney General’s Office