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Jun 1, 2009 9:30 pm US/Pacific
Lawmaker: State Spending Billions On Contractors
Billions of taxpayer dollars have been handed out by the state to private contractors during a financial crisis, and state workers and lawmakers are beginning to question the necessity of the spending.
State worker Marie Harder says she's seen hundred of wasteful contracts that hire outside consultants for jobs she says state workers should handle.
"There is billions of dollars being spent that no one is watching," Harder said. "We have many state employees that are qualified to do this work."
Marie, a union activist challenging these contracts, cited a document that was leaked to her. A draft offer from technology services sought to hire a consultant for IT support, a contract that would pay $498,000 for one year.
Aaron McLear, Governor Schwarzenegger's spokesperson, says some contractors are needed because state workers may not have the expertise or availability on a given project, but he says the governor's team with review these expenses as they tackle the $24 billion deficit.
"In cases where we don't need these contracts, we will get rid of them," McLear said.
Some lawmakers say tax dollars spent on contractors is difficult to detect. Assemblyman Mike Eng (D-Monterey Park) is pushing a new law requiring state agencies to post outsourcing details online for anyone to access. He says California currently has more than 13,000 contractors, and that adds up to $34.7 billion.
"Currently, we don't have any oversight or transparency," Assemblyman Eng said. "We've done some studies and we've had an open hearing in which we actually looked at some of the job occupations that pay 10 or 15 times the hourly rate for jobs that can be performed in-house."
A non-partisan state study determined contractors usually cost 50 percent more than having the work performed by state workers.
The proposed law to require state agencies to report these contracts online will be voted on this week in the state assembly.
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