State must account for $200 million in COVID-19 spending

State law wisely allows for no-bid, sole-source procurements that give government agencies the flexibility to avoid red tape and rapidly acquire needed goods and services in times of emergency. And it wisely requires a basic accounting of how public money is being spent in those special circumstances, with agencies required to list the amount of each purchase or contract, the name and address of the vendor and the nature of the goods or services purchased.

Further, a system of government based on separation of powers and inherent checks and balances requires steps be taken to give lawmakers information on how the executive branch is spending money under the emergency provisions.

So lawmakers appropriately raised concerns about accountability and transparency when the state Department of Health filed notice of $200 million in emergency procurements to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic — but took none of the other required steps to show how money is being spent.

DOH spokesman David Morgan said the emergency declaration earmarking the $200 million — which comes out of the $1 billion-plus the state is getting from the federal CARES Act — was to “demonstrate there is sufficient budget available over the course of the pandemic” to cover the spending.

As for posting individual expenditures on the state Sunshine Portal so people can see who is landing what contracts for how much, Morgan said that would happen when the department has time and “people power.” He told Journal investigative reporter Mike Gallagher “given the volume of transactions per day it was, and still is, challenging to keep all individual transactions posted on the State Purchasing Division portal and subsequently the (public) Sunshine Portal.”

Not good enough. Perhaps the governor should try to strike a deal with Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller to see if the hundreds of Albuquerque city employees who are being paid while their jobs disappeared could help out (assuming there are no “underemployed” state workers to lend a hand).

Meanwhile, the emergency spending notice DOH did file contains a laundry list of procurements including testing, janitorial services, medical supplies and IT services for contact tracing, all under the heading of “goods and services necessary to manage, mitigate and contain this deadly virus.” That could be just about anything. And Morgan said, “The Department of Health is committed to following procurement laws. However, given the priorities of all the items needed, we needed to prioritize purchasing in order to put public health first.” Translation: buy now; report later.

Lawmakers also have expressed concern about the lack of transparency and lack of legislative involvement. “We’re supposed to have a say on how the state spends this money,” said Rep. Patricia Lundstrom, D-Gallup, and co-chair of the Legislative Finance Committee. “I don’t think it takes that much more time to let the Legislature know where the money is going.” Legislative Finance Committee director David Abbey said that instead of emergency procurement, the correct course would have been for the administration to file Budget Adjustment Requests with the Legislative Finance Committee for legislative oversight.

State Auditor Brian Colón said his office would be “testing” purchases made under the emergency procurements. Good idea. But it’s no substitute for the reporting required by law that allows the spending in the first place. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham should convene the appropriate leaders in her administration and have them come up with a plan to ensure the required reporting happens in a timely fashion.