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Orie Speaks Out Against Rendell's No-Bid Contracts
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By Chris Freind, The Bulletin
After serving four years in the state House of Representatives, state Sen. Jane Orie, R-40th, of Allegheny County, was elected to the Senate in 2001. She rapidly made a name for herself as a reformer and now has the distinction of serving in a leadership position as majority whip for the Republican Caucus.
Ms. Orie has taken on issues in the commonwealth, including health care, prescription drug coverage, taxes, schools safety and crime victims’ rights.
More than anything else, Ms. Orie’s stated passion for reform and fair play stems from her days as state deputy attorney general and assistant district attorney for Allegheny County.
Now she finds herself as the leader in the effort to reform how state contracts are awarded, with a special emphasis on multi-million dollar no-bid contracts such as the ones routinely doled out by the Rendell administration to politically connected friends and law firms.
Ms. Orie’s legislation, SB 903, passed the Senate unanimously, 50-0, earlier this year, but was split up into four bills in the House and died in committee. The fiery senator, with a commitment from the leadership, plans to reintroduce the bill as soon as the new Senate convenes in January.
The Bulletin asked Ms. Orie for her thoughts concerning the number and dollar amount of no-bid contracts awarded by Gov. Rendell’s office, particularly the millions to the Ballard Spahr law firm from the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA). (Ballard is the governor’s former firm.)
She said what was “more astonishing than the $2.7 million in business given to his law former firm, which is huge in itself, is the glaring increase in business from $25,000 to the $2.7 million figure, which appears can only be attributed to Rendell’s relationship to the firm.”
Ms. Orie’s concerns refer to the legal fees Ballard received from the DRPA. From 1999 to 2001, Ballard received $25,000 in legal fees from DRPA. Since 2002, the year of Mr. Rendell’s election as governor and when he appointed himself chairman of the port authority, the firm received $2.7 million.
Ballard Spahr has received millions more in no-bid contracts from the commonwealth, and at one point, it even performed $773,000 worth of work on the turnpike privatization program without a contract.
“In the Senate, I introduced Senate Bill 903 to address this very type of issue. The need to address it is even more critical in these economic times, where we need to ensure we are wisely and prudently using taxpayer money,” she said. “Awards of these ‘pinstripe patronage’ type consulting contracts, if they are necessary, need to be on a merit basis and at a price that guarantees the taxpayers are getting the best value.”
SB 903, in the form passed by the Senate, would require all legal, management, and bond consulting contracts to be reviewed by the Attorney General for ethics, conflict of interest and legality.
“I plan to re-introduce the bill at the beginning of next session,” Ms. Orie said.
When asked what impact these types of business relationship have on voters’ view of their government and elected officials, Ms. Orie said, “It reflects negatively on all in government — we must avoid even the appearance of impropriety in order to restore confidence in government. Even more importantly, we must not waste taxpayer money to reward others as we face a serious budget deficit.”
Ms. Orie cites the Pennsylvania Turnpike as another example of why reform is needed. It has been reported that the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has awarded bond contracts to firms with which turnpike officials have relationships.
As reported in a Pittsburgh newspaper, she pointed put, the turnpike commission “has customarily paid two to three times more in basis points for bonds than similar agencies in neighboring states which competitively bid such bonds.”
Ms. Orie called on Pennsylvanians to become involved in the effort to clean up government.
“Taxpayers need to access the resources available to them, to learn what bills on important issues like these have been introduced, and actively write or call their legislators demanding that necessary reforms be made,” she said.
“I am a reformer at heart. I know the (unethical) things that are happening, and I’ve made enemies. When I first started, I was disillusioned, but when I started moving on this reform effort, I realized I was there for a reason. My goal is restore the public trust through these reforms. There are really good people in the legislature, but there are those who have blurred ethics, too.
Chris Freind can be reached at cf@thebulletin.us
Ms. Orie has taken on issues in the commonwealth, including health care, prescription drug coverage, taxes, schools safety and crime victims’ rights.
More than anything else, Ms. Orie’s stated passion for reform and fair play stems from her days as state deputy attorney general and assistant district attorney for Allegheny County.
Now she finds herself as the leader in the effort to reform how state contracts are awarded, with a special emphasis on multi-million dollar no-bid contracts such as the ones routinely doled out by the Rendell administration to politically connected friends and law firms.
Ms. Orie’s legislation, SB 903, passed the Senate unanimously, 50-0, earlier this year, but was split up into four bills in the House and died in committee. The fiery senator, with a commitment from the leadership, plans to reintroduce the bill as soon as the new Senate convenes in January.
The Bulletin asked Ms. Orie for her thoughts concerning the number and dollar amount of no-bid contracts awarded by Gov. Rendell’s office, particularly the millions to the Ballard Spahr law firm from the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA). (Ballard is the governor’s former firm.)
She said what was “more astonishing than the $2.7 million in business given to his law former firm, which is huge in itself, is the glaring increase in business from $25,000 to the $2.7 million figure, which appears can only be attributed to Rendell’s relationship to the firm.”
Ms. Orie’s concerns refer to the legal fees Ballard received from the DRPA. From 1999 to 2001, Ballard received $25,000 in legal fees from DRPA. Since 2002, the year of Mr. Rendell’s election as governor and when he appointed himself chairman of the port authority, the firm received $2.7 million.
Ballard Spahr has received millions more in no-bid contracts from the commonwealth, and at one point, it even performed $773,000 worth of work on the turnpike privatization program without a contract.
“In the Senate, I introduced Senate Bill 903 to address this very type of issue. The need to address it is even more critical in these economic times, where we need to ensure we are wisely and prudently using taxpayer money,” she said. “Awards of these ‘pinstripe patronage’ type consulting contracts, if they are necessary, need to be on a merit basis and at a price that guarantees the taxpayers are getting the best value.”
SB 903, in the form passed by the Senate, would require all legal, management, and bond consulting contracts to be reviewed by the Attorney General for ethics, conflict of interest and legality.
“I plan to re-introduce the bill at the beginning of next session,” Ms. Orie said.
When asked what impact these types of business relationship have on voters’ view of their government and elected officials, Ms. Orie said, “It reflects negatively on all in government — we must avoid even the appearance of impropriety in order to restore confidence in government. Even more importantly, we must not waste taxpayer money to reward others as we face a serious budget deficit.”
Ms. Orie cites the Pennsylvania Turnpike as another example of why reform is needed. It has been reported that the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has awarded bond contracts to firms with which turnpike officials have relationships.
As reported in a Pittsburgh newspaper, she pointed put, the turnpike commission “has customarily paid two to three times more in basis points for bonds than similar agencies in neighboring states which competitively bid such bonds.”
Ms. Orie called on Pennsylvanians to become involved in the effort to clean up government.
“Taxpayers need to access the resources available to them, to learn what bills on important issues like these have been introduced, and actively write or call their legislators demanding that necessary reforms be made,” she said.
“I am a reformer at heart. I know the (unethical) things that are happening, and I’ve made enemies. When I first started, I was disillusioned, but when I started moving on this reform effort, I realized I was there for a reason. My goal is restore the public trust through these reforms. There are really good people in the legislature, but there are those who have blurred ethics, too.
Chris Freind can be reached at cf@thebulletin.us
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