The State Worker: Audit: Department contracts riddled with flaws

The State Worker

Chronicling civil-service life for California state workers

September 10, 2009

Audit: Department contracts riddled with flaws

The Bureau of State Audits has released a report on vendor contracts at the departments of Health Care Services and Public Health. Here are highlights from the audit:

Over the last five years, the State Personnel Board (board) has disapproved 17 of 23 IT contracts challenged by a union.

Many of the board's decisions were moot because the contracts had already expired before the board rendered its decisions.

Of the six IT contracts still active at the time of the board's decisions, only three were terminated because of board disapprovals.

Health Care Services did not comply with state policy regarding the use of blanket positions and was disingenuous with budgetary oversight entities.

Neither Health Care Services nor Public Health has a complete database that allows it to identify active IT contracts and purchase orders.

The departments complied with many, but not all, state procurement requirements.

The departments did not obtain the requisite financial interest statements from half the sampled employees responsible for evaluating contract bids and offers.

Click here for the audit summary, which includes recommendations to increase the role of the State Personnel Board and unions in contracting. View the complete report, all 89 PDF pages, by clicking here.

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