During the course of the debate over the Lincoln Library bidding rules, opponents of applying federal procurement rules to the library project suggested that the state code is just as strict as the federal procedures, and would do just as good a job of protecting the taxpayers’ money. Not so.
The biggest hole in this argument–and the state procurement code–is a little-known statutory codicil that literally allows the Capital Development Board (the entity responsible for building the library) to accept construction bids “without competitive sealed bidding.”
Instead the board may adopt a “competitive alternative method,” a procedure subject to definition by the Capital Development Board. In other words, the very rules that are meant to restrain the board are themselves subject to waiver and reformulation by the board. This isn’t just a loophole. It’s an exception that you could drive a freight train through.
My opponents, including Gov. George Ryan, allege that I crafted and co-sponsored the state legislation as a state senator and argue, in essence, that I am estopped from expressing my concerns now. I did not craft the legislation, but I did co-sponsor it. I missed the flaw in the state code at that time, and I regret that I missed it. But we’ve caught it now, and it must be corrected.
This back-door escape hatch, which essentially makes the state’s bidding rules optional, gives unchecked discretion to the Capital Development Board, allowing it potentially to award public contracts to political favorites. It’s ripe for abuse.
The state procurement code puts Lincoln Library and other money at risk of being misspent. I favor applying the stricter and more comprehensive federal contracting rules to the project–so that the Illinois and federal taxpayers get a $120 million library, not a $50 million library that costs $120 million. That, as much as the library itself, would do Lincoln’s memory proud.
