Md. Cracks Down On Some State Contracts Over Transparency Concerns

Members of Maryland’s Board of Public Works have voted to increase oversight of state contracts.

Citing something called “task orders,” Comptroller Peter Franchot noted that agencies can spend millions of dollars under master contracts without ever having to go before the board.

During a meeting of the board Thursday, Franchot moved to amend state procurement rules, requiring spending of more than $200,000 under a master contract to come back before board for approval.

The other two members of the board, Gov. Larry Hogan, and State Treasurer Nancy Kopp also voted in favor of the measure, making the vote unanimous.

Franchot said the move was designed to increase accountability.

Since the start of 2018, Franchot said, the Department of Information Technology has awarded five task orders — each one more than $10 million. One of the five was a “whopping” $149.3 million task order contract to the Department of Human Services, he said.

Click here to read the rest of the article written by Kate Ryan over at WTOP

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