As the dismal saga of bribery
and extortion swirling around former Commissioner Chris Epps and Mississippi
Department of Corrections contracts continues to make headlines, epic reforms to
the public contracting process slipped through the Legislature with scant media
attention.
Longtime champion of
contract reform Representative Jerry Turner passed legislation that completely
revamps the public contract review board and tightens up its procedures. Governor
Phil Bryant, another champion of contract reform, signed his bill into law on
March 29th.
A similar bill
authored by Senator John Polk died but a companion bill passed that further tightened definitions related to public
purchasing. His bill was signed into law by Gov. Bryant on March 20th.
These changes build and
improve on earlier reforms Rep. Turner pushed through during the 2015
legislative session with help from Gov. Bryant's special Task Force on
Contracting and Procurement in the Mississippi Department of Corrections
co-chaired by Judge Robert Gibbs and Andy Taggart.
Taggart described these latest
changes as "significant."
Back in January, Turner
and Polk, chairmen, respectively, of the House and Senate Accountability,
Efficiency and Transparency Committees, issued a joint press release on their proposed
changes.
"For too long
Mississippi has had a less than adequate contract and personal services
contract approval system," said Polk. "A good attempt was made in
2015 to improve the system by enacting HB825. But we have found that some
state agencies have found ways around the intended controls, and have
interfered with the full intent of the law."
"Today I am pleased
to announce the introduction of new legislation which will greatly enhance
standards for procurements by the solicitation of 'Requests For Proposals,'"
said Turner. "Also, the Department of Finance and Administration 'Public
Procurement Review Board' (PPRB) will be reconstituted to include the powers
and duties of the PSCRB.”
That "also"
was a pretty big deal. The Public Procurement Review Board is under the Department of
Finance and Administration (DFA) while the Public Service Contract Review Board
(PSCRB) is under the State Personnel Board. The chair of the PSCRB by statute
is the State Personnel Board Executive Director. The chair of the revamped PPRB
will be elected by its appointed members and the Executive Director of DFA relegated
to an ex officio and non-voting member of the panel.
Turner's bill gives the reconstituted
Public Procurement Review Board broad oversight and policy control over the
public contracting process. Other changes establish detailed guidelines
regarding RFP solicitations and evaluations, require the PPRB to pre-approve
RFP evaluation weightings for each contract, require price to be at least 35%
of the evaluation weightings, spell out requirements for sole source contracts,
and clarify limited activities over which the board will not have oversight.
Polk's bill creates new,
specific definitions for public funds, commodities, equipment, furniture,
emergencies, and construction along with guidelines for Certified Purchasing Offices,
Agents, and Procurement Managers.
The bills were
highlighted by columnists Geoff Pender and Wyatt Emmerich early in the process,
but they seemed to go invisible after that.
They won't go unnoticed by
state agencies when they take full effect on January 1, 2018.
Crawford is a syndicated
columnist from Meridian (crawfolk@gmail.com)
7 comments:
the only difference in political corruption in a developing nation and in mississippi is that in a developing nation it is right out in the open. in a way, i kind of find that refreshing. in mississippi they move heaven and earth in an attempt to cover it up.
12:53 - That was cute. Now, can you cite an example or two? OK, just one?
Which agencies have circumvented?
to 2;30pm........you think I'm cute ? maybe, but the truth hurts, don't it? you want example s? lets start with epps and MDOC, and his habit of depositing his dirty money is sums just less than $10,000, in order to circumvent the banks from reporting it. shall i go on? need more examples? free up the next 2 weeks. we gonna be here a while.
Epps had already been covered in the article, dingleberry. So, all you can come up with to support your post is the bribery scandal already covered? Yes.....cute.
Here's your claim: "In Mississippi they move heaven and earth in an attempt to cover it up."
Please support your claim. Or don't.
to 1:07pm, support my claim? try reading the newspaper or watching the 6 oclock news.
One example of "moving heaven and earth in an attempt to cover it up" is all we want, 3:59. Don't refer me to the six o'clock news to support a baseless claim you made. Get off the pot!
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