Contracts and Procurement

Contracts and Procurement2020-06-13T17:57:41-04:00

Contracts and Procurement

Contracts and Procurement

What is a Government Contract?

A government contract is understood to be any contract where a company is a party and involves supply of goods or services, directly or indirectly, to a government. A government contract can also include a subcontract at any tier or any level below the prime contract.

What is Procurement?

Procurement includes the multi-step process and procedure of how a government receives goods and services from an individual, business, nonprofit, or organization. The process should include a comprehensive needs assessment or study to determine contracting requirements, a competitive bidding process, a transparent contract selection, and an accurate goods or service delivery.

Florida government should apply strict procurement guidelines to ensure that the procurement process is in compliance with the law and that contract bidding is transparent.

Major Problems with the Florida Procurement and Contracts include: bid tampering, bid rigging, bid splitting and no-bid contracts.

Florida should create a uniform, competitive procurement policy, and an online platform for access to all records for every state and local government entity.

Florida should allow more citizen voices into the contracting process and never allow contracts to be approved without disclosure of the vendor name.  All contracts should be audited periodically to ensure taxpayers are receiving the maximum efficiency and value for their payments.

Research Publications

Budget Transparency in the Sunshine State

Download the full PDF report here

December 2012

Executive Summary

According to a March 2012 report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) titled
“Following the Money 2012,” Florida received a D grade (59/100) on a report card of how the 50
states rate in providing online access to government spending data. In comparison, Texas
received the top score with an A grade (98/100).

The First Amendment Foundation, an organization that has been protecting and advancing open
government in Florida for over 25 years, and Integrity Florida, a nonpartisan research institute
and government watchdog group, have assessed the Transparency 2.0 website developed by
Spider Data Services and […]

By |December 7th, 2012|Categories: Access to Information, Budget Transparency, Contracts and Procurement|

Public Resources

Report Corruption

Florida Transparency Website Database

Website:  FloridaSunshine.Gov  A compilation of state government transparency websites.

State of Florida Program and Services Monitor

Website:  Florida Government Program Summaries  A monitor of State programs and services provided by the Florida Legislature

 

Laws, Regulations, and Codes

Florida Legislature Statutes, Constitution, and Laws

Website: http://www.leg.state.fl.us/

Florida Department of State’s Administrative Code and Regulations

Website: https://www.flrules.org/  The Department of State’s Administrative Code contains the rules that have been developed by state agencies in order to implement state laws.

 

Accounting and Financing

State of Florida Accounting and Financing 

Website: Transparency Florida (State Finances) Accounting and finance information for the entire state of Florida.

Florida Government Budget Documents

Website: Florida Fiscal Portal  Readable budget related documents submitted by Florida’s Governor, Legislature, and State Agencies.

State of Florida Budget and Spending 

Website: Transparency Florida (State Budget) Budget and spending information for Florida as appropriated.

State of Florida Employee Payroll and Pension

Website: Florida Has a Right to Know

Contracts and Procurement

List of Government Vendor Charts and Contracts

Website: The State of Florida Chief Financial Officer Provides open data access to information on more than 42,000 state government vendor contracts.

State of Florida Accountability Contract Tracking System

Website: Florida Accountability Contract Tracking System (FACTS)  Search state contracts by agency, vendor, or value.

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