Stakes remain high in private staffing controversyTalking politics May 18,
2007 10:16:34 AM
Less than four months ago, on January 30, Governor Donald L. Carcieri painted an upbeat picture during his State of the State address for 2007.
“I am pleased to say tonight, that with much effort from everyone, the Rhode Island ‘ship of state’ is turning and heading in a new and exciting direction,” enthused the governor. “Steady as she goes! None of this could have been accomplished without the support of the General Assembly, or of the people of Rhode Island. And I thank you all for your help.”
How things change.
The budget outlook facing the state — with a deficit in excess of $400 million — has worsened in recent months, making painful cuts in social programs seemingly inevitable. Serious strains have reemerged between the governor and parts of the General Assembly. And the ongoing controversy about the Carcieri’s administration use of private staffing companies shows no sign of abating.
Carcieri came out on the offensive earlier this month, threatening to involve the state police, as the Senate Government Oversight Committee, chaired by the meticulous Senator Michael Lenihan (D-East Greenwich), probed the state’s deal with Smart Staffing. The governor’s tough talk didn’t hold up so well when the ProJo’s Kathy Gregg scored another eye-popping scoop: that the state had been paying a 146 percent markup to a private company, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin (VHB), for a “typist” for which VHB was receiving the equivalent of $102,858.
It was all the more questionable since VHB, after being asked about the contract, agreed to significantly reduce its markup.
In 2002, Carcieri successfully emerged as a self-styled outsider who set himself against the General Assembly and pledged to bring efficiency, in the form of a “Big Audit,” to state government. By the time when the governor was running for reelection last year, a report by his administration trumpeted that his Fiscal Fitness program had delivered $128 million in savings.
The state’s growing use of private contractors was alternately viewed as an effort to reduce costs or an end-run by the administration.
Now, of course, the question is why Carcieri and others in state government were unaware of the overly generous VHB contract, and how much more of the same is still waiting to be found. The issue cuts all the closer in a tough budget season.
Carcieri has responded by selecting Gerald Aubin, the respected director of the state Lottery, to look into the situation. Bill Lynch, chairman of the state Democratic Party, meanwhile, is calling for an independent audit.
Legislative sources had raised concerns in recent years about the administration’s growing use of private contractors, going back to the state’s former contract with DataLogic.
It’s hard to tell where the issue will go from here, but the stakes remain high, both in terms of the economic toll for the state, and in the effect on the Carcieri administration as it tries to advance a second-term agenda.
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