(The Center Square) — New York watchdog groups are looking to shine a brighter light on lucrative contracts that are shielded from public disclosure under state laws.
The New York Legislature approved a bill earlier this year that will require state departments and agencies to publicly post contracts that have been exempted from comptroller review by executive order or legislative action during public emergencies. The legislation was aimed at improving transparency in government spending during public emergencies.
In a letter to state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, a coalition of watchdog groups said the new transparency requirements would be “vastly more effective” if his office publishes a list of current executive orders and laws that don’t require pre-audit review.
“This will allow local governments, legislators, journalists, watchdog groups and the general public to better understand what pre-audit and competitive procurement exemptions agencies should be reporting,” they wrote.
The publicly accessible details should include the mechanism for suspending or removing oversight, the specific law being exempted and the duration of the exemption, they said.
The groups, which include Reinvent Albany and Common Cause New York, said pre-audit authority is “among New York State’s most powerful tools for fighting corruption.”
“Much of this exempt spending occurs during emergencies, when government spending and procurement is based in a crisis atmosphere with little oversight or review,” they wrote.
DiNapoli has been critical of laws shielding the state government from disclosing details of contracts totalling hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
DiNapoli has also called for the passage of a bill requiring state agencies to provide prospective bidders for state contracts with the ability to protest a contract award. The Senate approved that bill but didn’t pass the Assembly before the end of the session.
“The COVID crisis taught us many valuable lessons, including the need for greater visibility of those contracts that are executed without the independent review of my office,” DiNapoli said in a recent statement.
In December, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation restoring the comptroller office’s contract oversight powers that had been stripped by her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, several years ago.
The changes restored the comptroller’s power to review state contracts involving the State University of New York, the City University of New York, and the Office of General Services before they are signed, known as “pre-audit” authority.
DiNapoli says the contract review is “an essential and important deterrent to waste, fraud and abuse in the state’s procurement process.”
“By reviewing contracts before they are awarded, my office protects taxpayers and state agencies by uncovering significant fiscal and integrity issues and helps to ensure a level playing field for vendors,” he said.
