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November 28, 2012 By AMK

Body overseeing Washington airports called ‘poster child for corruption’

The regional body overseeing Washington area airport projects such as the subway extension to Dulles International Airport is a “poster child for corruption” that needs major management reforms, a House committee chairman said.

“This is a sad chapter for metropolitan Washington and advocates for good D.C. transportation,” Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., said at a Friday hearing of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that reviewed a Nov. 1 Transportation Department inspector general report. “The IG found problems with hiring practices, a lack of competition for contracts and ethical violations.”

Mica mentioned contractors providing Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority employees with trips to golf tournaments, tickets to sporting events and concerts, and travel and accommodations amounting to nearly $5,000, as well as “preferential treatment to friends and relatives of board members.”

The board, which employs 1,400 and consists of political appointees made by the Maryland and Virginia governors and the District of Columbia mayor, has been in the news in recent months because of debates over the cost and scope of the Metro extension to Dulles and because of questionable salaries and travel expenses of some employees and board members.

Inspector General Calvin L. Scovel III testified that “MWAA’s policies and practices have not provided the controls needed to ensure accountability, transparency and sound governance.” A lack of internal controls has created a culture that allows questionable contracting practices . . . including initiating work before contract award, awarding sole source and limited competition contracts without proper justification, and providing nonpublic information that gives potential contractors an unfair advantage in competition.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/oversight/2012/11/body-overseeing-washington-airports-called-poster-child-corruption/59633/?oref=govexec_today_nl.

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: accountability, competition, corruption, ethics, FAR, procurement reform, sole source, transparency, Transportation Dept.

September 6, 2012 By AMK

Sequestration would cost civilian agencies $39 billion, contractor group says

Nondefense agencies would be hit with $39 billion in top-line budget cuts if the current law’s threat of sequestration kicks in on Jan. 2, 2013, according to new calculations by the Professional Services Council, a contractors trade group.

Though Congress and the White House could still reach a budget deal and head off the 2011 Budget Control Act’s requirement of across-the-board reductions, industry groups have been sounding the alarm about the short- and long-term harm the indiscriminate cuts would impose — particularly in defense.

In a pivot to the civilian agency side, the council recently analyzed sequestration’s likely impact on 16 nondefense agencies for fiscal 2013. It assumed that Congress will pass a six-month continuing resolution, as expected, and that fiscal 2012 enacted levels form the basis for applying the cuts.

Keep eading this article at http://www.govexec.com/management/2012/08/sequestration-would-cost-civilian-agencies-39-billion-contractor-group-says/57816/?oref=management_agenda_nl 

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: Agriculture Dept., budget cuts, Commerce Dept., DHS, DoD, Education Dept., Energy Dept., EPA, HHS, Homeland Security, HUD, industrial base, Justice Dept., Labor Dept., NASA, OMB, sequestration, Transportation Dept., Treasury, VA

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