State Contracts

Companies seeking lucrative state contracts and business deals in Maryland made five- and six-figure contributions in recent months to a Democratic governors group led by Gov. Martin O'Malley, federal records show. Firms making large gifts to the Democratic Governors Association in the last six months of 2011 include bidders for a $2.4 billion state employee health contract, a $56 million deal to rebuild highway rest stops and the license to run Baltimore's slots casino. O'Malley, who has been the association's chairman since December 2010, has said the contributions have nothing to do with his decisions as governor.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Gov. Martin O'Malley said Wednesday he wants to bring in outside help to review Maryland's procurement process for state contracts after repeated problems that agencies have experienced in bidding out for services over the years. O'Malley's comments at a Board of Public Works meeting were made as the board extended a $4.3 million contract extension for a company to run a call center that takes questions about child support payments. The extension is needed because the process that was used to hire a new contractor was found to be deeply flawed by the Maryland State Board of Contract Appeals.

Finally, Maryland's state legislators are going to take a look at whether there have been improprieties in the controversies surrounding the awarding of state contracts. Our only question: What took them so long?It has been clear for some time that influence was exerted on state officials in a number of major contract awards. In some cases, the regular procurement process was altered; in other cases, the entire competitive bidding procedure was junked. Abnormalities in these big state procurement contracts have become the norm rather than the exception.

The National Labor Relations Board has sided with about 350 taxi drivers at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, ruling that they should be classified as employees, not independent contractors, by the company that holds the state contract to operate cabs at the airport. The drivers, who work for BWI Taxi Management Inc., have said for years that they should be treated as employees and given access to benefits such as unemployment and workers' compensation insurance.

No, in answer to the headlined question, there's no out-and-out awarding of state contracts to friends and allies of the administration in Annapolis. But evidence is mounting that a subtle form of favoritism has crept into Maryland's procurement system in which bid specifications are routinely tailored to steer business to selected companies.There's considerable sentiment among legislators on a special task force that this sort of "steering" happened in the awarding of the controversial $65 million lottery computer contract, the follow-on $49 million keno contract, the $30 million statewide fiber optics proposal and the $10 million telephone PBX replacement contract.

Maryland officials have barred Alan B. Fabian, an entrepreneur and one-time Republican fundraiser now in federal prison, from doing business with the state for an indefinite period. Fabian, who lived in Cockeysville, pleaded guilty last year to mail and tax fraud in connection with a $32 million fraud. The Board of Public Works, a three-member panel with purview over state contracts, approved the action Wednesday without discussion. Fabian had been notified of the proceeding and did not request a hearing, according to board records.

Maryland's procurement laws -- once a model for other statesseeking integrity in awarding contracts -- are in tatters. Politically connected officials and lobbyists have blown gaping holes in the laws.It is a throwback to the pre-Watergate years when state contracts got handed out on the basis of who you knew. What's happening now is all too familiar. Influential businessmen with connections in the State House maneuver into position to benefit from contract awards.It is a corrupt bargain.

Maryland's state government will apparently move to ease the requirements for small businesses to bid on mid-sized state contracts after the Board of Public Works chastised budget officials yesterday for requiring a $100,000 performance bond on a contract worth $113,321.Officials of the board and the Department of Budget and Management told the board's members that they would deliver some proposals to lessen the requirements as early as the board's next meeting on Sept. 4.That promise came as board members reluctantly approved the award of a contract to Language Learning Enterprises Inc. of Washington to provide language interpreter services for emergency communications such as 911 lines.

A divided House committee rejected yesterday Gov. Parris N. Glendening's bid to nearly double the state goal for participation by minority-owned firms in state contracts.Instead, the Commerce and Government Matters Committee voted for a much more modest change, moving to the House floor a bill that would change the state's minimum goal for minority firm participation to 12 percent from 10 percent.Mr. Glendening had sought an increase to 18 percent. Administration lobbyists and other supporters of the governor's proposal say anything less than 18 percent will render the state's Minority Business Enterprise program vulnerable to legal challenge.

A Baltimore County judge has ruled that an advocacy group for the blind is not entitled to preferential treatment when the state buys up to $5 million in office supplies. Circuit Judge John F. Fader II said in an opinion released yesterday that the procurement law giving Blind Industries and Services of Maryland preference in state contracts does not apply to the office supply pact that it sought last summer. The law says that the state should buy supplies and services from the agency whenever possible.

WEATHER Today's forecast calls for sunny skies with a high near 50 degrees. It is expected to be mostly clear tonight, with a low temperature around 35 degrees. FROM LAST NIGHT... McDevitt out as CEO of Medifast : Medifast Inc., an Owings Mills-based maker and provider of weight-loss programs, said Thursday it would replace its chief executive officer next week with the company's board chairman. Four arrested in December killing at Towson Town Center : Four men, ranging in age from 19 to 44, were arrested this week and charged with first-degree murder.

Companies seeking lucrative state contracts and business deals in Maryland made five- and six-figure contributions in recent months to a Democratic governors group led by Gov. Martin O'Malley, federal records show. Firms making large gifts to the Democratic Governors Association in the last six months of 2011 include bidders for a $2.4 billion state employee health contract, a $56 million deal to rebuild highway rest stops and the license to run Baltimore's slots casino. O'Malley, who has been the association's chairman since December 2010, has said the contributions have nothing to do with his decisions as governor.

It wasn't always easy for Tracey Rhoten to make inroads in the male-dominated construction industry as a female executive of a concrete company. But being a state-certified minority business has helped create more opportunities for her firm, Aaron's Concrete Pumping in Eldersburg. That distinction has gotten her subcontracting jobs on state-funded construction projects since 2009 and has led to a 25 percent increase in revenue, said Rhoten, who founded the firm with her brother in 2003.

For the first time, Maryland is on track to meet its annual goal of awarding one-quarter of state contract dollars to minority- or female-owned businesses, Gov. Martin O'Malley said Friday. O'Malley, who made the announcement at a state-sponsored minority business event in Towson, said the news was particularly meaningful because of the state's budget woes. "We look at our diversity as a strength," the Democratic governor told the gathering of about 200 business leaders. "We look at it as a competitive advantage."

Two days after a state senator said Maryland Human Resources Secretary Brenda Donald's signature child welfare program was "not working," Donald received a warm reception - even applause - when she appeared before another group of lawmakers Thursday. At a briefing for the Joint Committee on Children, Youth and Families, Donald summarized how she believes "Place Matters," which she launched two years ago, is working to improve outcomes for vulnerable children. Under this new approach, the department focuses on reuniting foster children with their own families or keeping them in family settings, which has reduced the state's reliance on group home beds by nearly half.

Maryland officials have barred Alan B. Fabian, an entrepreneur and one-time Republican fundraiser now in federal prison, from doing business with the state for an indefinite period. Fabian, who lived in Cockeysville, pleaded guilty last year to mail and tax fraud in connection with a $32 million fraud. The Board of Public Works, a three-member panel with purview over state contracts, approved the action Wednesday without discussion. Fabian had been notified of the proceeding and did not request a hearing, according to board records.

IN THE BAD OLD days, it sometimes seemed, big state contracts were won in Maryland by the businessman who promised the biggest kickback.Those days brought shame. A former governor, Spiro T. Agnew, resigned the vice presidency amid charges that he had taken bribes while serving as Baltimore County executive.In the dreary aftermath of his fall, lawyers and bureaucrats came up with an intricate bidding system designed to protect the taxpayer, the state's good name and well-meaning public officials who find themselves, almost inevitably, in compromising situations.

It wasn't always easy for Tracey Rhoten to make inroads in the male-dominated construction industry as a female executive of a concrete company. But being a state-certified minority business has helped create more opportunities for her firm, Aaron's Concrete Pumping in Eldersburg. That distinction has gotten her subcontracting jobs on state-funded construction projects since 2009 and has led to a 25 percent increase in revenue, said Rhoten, who founded the firm with her brother in 2003.

The Maryland Stadium Authority approved yesterday a new contract for cleaning Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The approval is another step in response to an effort this past summer - including a threatened hunger strike - by janitorial workers to get a "living wage." In September, the authority agreed to pay $11.30 an hour, the living wage figure set for other state contracts in the Baltimore-Washington region. The new wage takes effect this spring, after the expiration of the previous three-year contract.

Private groups that receive state bond money from the General Assembly would have to meet minority contracting goals under a proposal discussed yesterday by the state Board of Public Works. The legislature annually approves tens of millions of dollars in bond funds to assist organizations ranging from the Junior League to Johns Hopkins. But despite discussion of the issue over the years, the grants have never been subjected to the state's goal of ensuring that contracts have at least 25 percent minority- or women-owned businesses participating.