Stimulus: who are the watchdogs?(THE BIG PICTURE)

We believe that there are three inter-related components for preventing waste and fraud as stimulus dollars are distributed to state and local governments through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA):

* Ensure that current state and local government standards of contracting practice for acquiring goods and services continue to be utilized to the greatest extent possible;

* Ensure that state and local governmental entities have the workforce capacity and capability to achieve the goals of ARRA; and

* Ensure that transparency is pervasive throughout each step of the acquisition and contracting process.

Every state and local public entity targeted to receive grants from the federal government should have regulations, statutes, ordinances and/or rules already in place that govern its procurement practices. These regulations should be consistent with the basic guidelines outlined in the Model Procurement Code for State and Local Governments.

At the expense of creating another layer of approvals, the federal government may wish to consider requiring grant recipients to certify that their current public procurement regulations address these standards of practice. The Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board could administer this certification; thereby holding the grant recipient accountable for compliance with their own regulations.

The bottom line is this: we believe that the federal government should be able to rely on the effective procurement models that are already in place within state and local governments. While the specific acquisition and contracting methods may vary based on the total spend of the public entity, demographics, and/or socio-economic factors, the basic principles of public procurement remain the same: transparency, ethical integrity, maximized competition, consistency, and the fair and equitable treatment of suppliers. As diverse as these public institutions are, they all share a universal principle: the very best value for the tax dollar.