Gov. Kevin Stitt asked to close Oklahoma competitive bidding ‘loopholes’

Rep. Kevin West, R-Moore, and Rep. Jay Steagall, R-Yukon, right, attend a special session of the state House at the Oklahoma Capitol in October. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice)

OKLAHOMA CITY — Lawmakers sent a bill to Gov. Kevin Stitt’s desk on Wednesday that would require purchases of equipment, products and services by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services to go out for bid.

Rep. Jay Steagall, R-Yukon, said House Bill 3057 requires the Information Services Division of OMES to comply with the state’s central purchasing and competitive bidding acts.

“Oklahomans demand transparency and accountability regarding the expenditure of their hard-earned tax dollars,” Steagall said. “The abuse of certain exemptions provided for in current statute pertaining to the competitive bid process has to end, and with the passage of HB3057, the Legislature is taking steps to reign in a significant portion of such exploitation.”

The bill comes after a scathing audit released earlier this week by the Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector’s Office, which said that loose contracting practices and poor oversight resulted in questionable spending of COVID-19 relief funds.

The audit found that OMES, which acts as a center of budgeting, IT, and accounting resources for state agencies, has not used competitive bidding to seek out qualified companies. The agency instead utilized a practice known as “rolling solicitations.”

“In my opinion, Oklahoma is rapidly becoming a no-bid state,” State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd said earlier this week when releasing the audit. “This is a grave disservice to every Oklahoman. The ‘Rolling Solicitation’ design allows for circumvention of financial safeguards and could place potentially better state vendors at an unfair disadvantage.”

Steagall said he’ll also work to amend additional statutes to “close loopholes and eliminate exemptions used or designed to bypass the competitive bid process.”

Sen. Darrell Weaver, R-Moore, the bill’s Senate author, said the government must be trusted in order to maintain support.

“How we conduct business must be above reproach and above board,” he said in a statement. “As Senate author of HB 3057, I am grateful that we are taking action and adding a safety rail to guard against corrupt activities.”

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