Fighting outsourcing: members step up to the plate
3:41 PM - January 21, 2011
Twenty-four Unit 1 members participated in a “contract review
marathon” on Jan. 7 and 8 in Sacramento. The goal of the review
is to identify superfluous outsourcing contracts to defend
against State Personnel Board (SPB) challenges, Joint Labor
Management Committees (JLMCs), and provide information to
legislative committees. Fifty-two contracts were analyzed and 87
were targeted for additional analysis.
Interesting findings:
The Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) contracts
project managers and web-developers–when the work could be
performed by state IT professionals.
$19 million was spent in a no-win Franchise Tax Board (FTB) legal
case.
A DMV contract that originated as a sole-source contract in 1995
for $12 million was amended ten times–and is now up to $72
million. This is an example of a lack of oversight in the
procurement process.
There is a growing use of student assistants.
Many contracts exist with out-of-state firms when state tax money
could have stayed in California.
Activities identified for further action and follow-up:
Request quarterly IT acquisition plans for each department to see
what IT services each department plans to purchase in the coming
quarter.
Petition the Legislature to require better management of
contracts. Some departments appear to sign-off on invoices
without following up on job completion.
The use of “leveraged procurement acquisitions,” such as CMAS and
MSAs, allow departments to purchase up to $1.5 million with
little oversight and has led to wasteful spending.
The next outsourcing study is planned for Feb. 4 in San Diego. If
you are interested in attending, contactunit1@seiu1000.org.