Gov’t cautioned on sole-source contract

Saying he reluctantly voted to give in to the majority’s approval of the FY 2000 budget, Senate Floor Leader Pete P. Reyes expressed objection to a decision to sole-source contract for a lobbying firm in Washington D.C. provided under the spending package.

He also prodded Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio, who has yet to even sign the newly passed budget bill, against exercising his authority in contracting lobbyists without adhering to CNMI procurement regulations.

At the same time, the Senate adopted resolution he authored clarifying its intent on agreeing with the House on such provision which was a result of the compromise agreement reached by both chambers on the proposed budget.

The administrative provision under Section 532 of the budget bill appropriates $700,000 for the lobbying campaign and allows the governor to sole-source any contract. It does not have fiscal year limitation, which means the funds can be used to pay previous services.

With four months to go into the current fiscal year, this could result to $175,000 monthly expenditures if the intention is to use all the funding up to September this year, according to Mr. Reyes.

“If this is the case, when you annualized the funding for this purpose, it represents $2.1 million per year,” he said in a speech before the Senate’s passage of the budget. “We are back to former Governor Froilan Tenorio administration’s practice.”

The senator, who is a member of the joint House-Senate committee that hammered out the consensus budget, said the bicameral body had agreed to have the lobbying services contract be bid out, but the deal was changed to sole-sourcing in the final draft of the budget.

“This is contrary to everything that we stand for and most especially our commitment for compliance to the government procurement regulations,” he said.

“Although this bill appropriates the $700,000, our governor is reminded of his austerity program and the fact that the appropriation… does not mean that it has to be obligated to one single lobbying firm or to be expended in its entirety prior to the end of the fiscal year,” added Mr. Reyes.

The Senate resolution, on the other hand, underscored its position on how the funds will be spent, noting that lobbying services are not for single contract and the money is not to be used for payment of services prior to FY 2000.

Mr. Tenorio is also “requested to exercise restraint in the use of these funds and expend no more amounts than necessary to protect and advance the Commonwealth’s interests,” it stated.

He must not disregard procurement laws despite the broad power granted him under Section 532, added the resolution which, like the budget, received all nine votes of the Senate.