December 18th, 2021 by WCBC Radio
WBAL reports a review of emergency procurements for supplies in Maryland during the COVID-19 pandemic found “a lack of compliance” in general with state regulations and “ineffective monitoring" of payments, according to a report released Thursday by the Maryland Office of Legislative Audits.
The review found that 11-of-15 emergency procurements totaling $189.4 million were not in compliance with all state regulations.
“For example, there was no formal written contract for three of the procurements and the contracts for the other eight procurements did not include all of the critical provisions required by State procurement regulations,” wrote Gregory Hook, the legislative auditor, in a letter to lawmakers introducing the review.
Hook wrote that the agencies responsible for the procurements “frequently could not provide critical documentation to support the basis for the purchases, including written explanations for how the vendors were identified and selected.”
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