Kansas has authorized 1,000 no-bid contracts worth a half-billion dollars

[TexasTowelie]

TOPEKA -- Kansas agencies skipped the state's competitive bidding process more than 1,000 times over the past eight years, gaining permission to spend $550 million on no-bid contracts and purchases.

The state has approved $115 million in noncompetitive transactions already in 2018, far outpacing the past few years, according to records obtained by The Eagle. A significant chunk involves a controversial Kansas Department of Revenue contract to outsource dozens of jobs.

And records show the Kansas Department of Commerce bypassed competitive bidding to pay the director of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors more than $472,000 since 2011.

The state has used no-bid transactions to do everything from provide medical services to buy groceries. Agencies have sought no-bid contracts totaling more than $4 million for consultants over the past few years, for example.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article211437184.html