I hope you are looking forward to the Super Bowl or Puppy Bowl, depending on your preference. (I have a Swiftie niece who might be watching her first Super Bowl ever.) This week’s letter discusses procurement reform, the federal pandemic relief aid budget and upcoming oversight hearings on the Washington Bridge project.
A. Promoting Ethical Procurement Practices
At a February 6 Finance Committee meeting, the Department of Administration presented a proposed code of ethics for procurement practices. The initiative responds to a controversy that arose last year when a State official demanded gifts and favors from a Philadelphia firm seeking a State contract. The proposed Code would (to my knowledge for the first time) also hold vendors accountable for violations of gift prohibitions, subjecting them to possible debarment from State contractual work. I encouraged the Department to go further, using the procurement process to ensure vendor compliance with the campaign finance laws.
More specifically, Rhode Island law requires vendors performing State business exceeding $5,000 in a year to file affidavits with the Board of Elections disclosing their State contracts and their political contributions in amounts equal to or greater than $250. Given that there are hundreds of such vendors, I was surprised to find on the Board of Elections web page that it contained only five vendor affidavits for activity occurring in 2023. This raises a question in my mind about the level of vendor compliance with this transparency law that a procurement code of ethics could help address.
B. Repurposing Soon-To-Expire Federal Pandemic Relief Funds
In my January 7 letter, I discussed the Pandemic Recovery Office’s review of federal COVID aid that was at risk of being forfeited due to the State’s failure to meet federal obligation and spending deadlines. At a February 8 hearing, the Pandemic Recovery Office presented its backup plan for uncommitted federal pandemic relief funds. The office determined that those funds could be deposited in the State’s unemployment benefits fund at any time. Such a deposit would reduce the required employer contribution to the fund going forward.
While this allocation would provide a valuable benefit to business, I remain interested in alternative uses for uncommitted funds. For example, the Governor’s current plan allocates $121 million to public health, barely 10% of a $1.1 billion federal program intended to help states respond to a public health crisis (i.e. COVID-19). When the Department of Health staff presents to the Finance Committee, I will ask them whether we can use additional federal funds beyond those already committed to increase our State’s resilience against the time when the next pandemic strikes. For example, we have learned that wastewater surveillance can be an early indicator of the level of coronavirus (or presumably other virus) infection in a community, providing communities with time to respond before there is a spike in such lagging indicators as hospitalizations and deaths.
C. Oversight of the Washington Bridge Closure
Tomorrow (February 12) afternoon at 3:00, the House and Senate Oversight Committees will conduct a joint hearing to begin review of the events leading up to the recent closure of the Washington Bridge. The Department of Transportation decided to close the northern (westbound) side of the bridge due to safety issues located in Span 7. The Department maintains a web page with information regarding the closure, including copies of inspection reports dating back to 2020.
As one of the 37 members of these committees, I will be interested in learning, among other things, about (1) how these inspections were conducted, (2) why the 2023 inspection revealed safety concerns that were not detected previously, (3) (when it becomes available) the Department’s plans to repair or replace the northern side of the Washington Bridge and (4) what lessons we can learn from this experience to support the State’s ongoing bridge maintenance and repair program. Monday’s meeting can provide a start to this inquiry, but additional hearings probably will be necessary.