Report Calls for Changes in State Contract Process

Saturday, Sept. 14, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

The panel headed by Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa and Budget Director Perry Comeaux called Friday for standardized forms, centralized tracking and mandatory approval by key officials to ensure the state doesn't get ripped off.

The report also says the attorney general's office should draft and negotiate contracts in excess of $100,000, financing contracts and complex consulting deals.

Also suggested is increased monitoring to ensure contract compliance; and stronger negotiation methods to make sure the state gets the best deal it can.

The report also says sole-source contracts should be rebid every four years, and the Legislature should consider giving administrators more leeway in financing purchases.

Many of the state contracts are for relatively small sums of money while others - like a contract approved last year for private medical services for convicts at Ely State Prison - can run into the millions.

And while most of the deals attract little notice, others - like the $4.2 million Ely contract and an over-budget Welfare Division "NOMADS" computer system contract - have caused furors.

The Ely deal, with Correctional Medical Services Inc., was controversial from the start as a result of questions from some legislators and from the head of a state workers' union about the company's track record in other states.

Comeaux said the task force review was prompted by many factors, including the NOMADS contract "which probably could have been done differently" to give the state some added cost protections.

The inter-agency task force reviewed contracting and purchasing laws and policies, bonding, security and notice requirements, cost-comparison and quality-control procedures.

The 57-page task force report, the result of a review that began last March, was submitted to the state Board of Examiners.

The board, whose members include Gov. Bob Miller, Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa and Secretary of State Dean Heller, reviews and approves outside contracts for all government agencies except the Department of Transportation and the state's university system.

In addition to the contracts that affect virtually every state agency, there are hundreds of agency leases and more than 50 lease-purchase agreements.

Del Papa said the report, if implemented, will mean "Nevadans are going to get a better bang for their buck."

"Concentrating our limited resources at the front end in the construction of state solicitation documents and the negotiation of terms will help eliminate surprises at the back end of the process," she said.