The state spending board, led by an aggressive Gov. Larry Hogan, sent a powerful message to state bureaucrats Wednesday by refusing to approve a half-dozen contracts until agencies gave better justifications of what appeared to be cost overruns or a lack of bid competition.
Chairing his second meeting of the Board of Public Works, Hogan used its bully pulpit to put officials of state agencies and the University of Maryland System on notice that he would question contracts that received only one bid and those in which contract revisions exceeded original cost estimates.
"We all agree we have to find ways to make the bidding process more competitive," Hogan said.
State Comptroller Peter Franchot, a Democrat who was frequently the board's lone dissenter under Gov. Martin O'Malley, expressed delight that his alliance with the Republican Hogan has produced an apparent working majority on the board to take a hard line against contracts awarded without adequate competition.
"We have talked about single-bid contracts year after year, and they always got approved, 2-1, over my objection," Franchot said. "Now it's a new sheriff on the board."
Late in his administration, O'Malley seldom raised skeptical questions about an agency's contract unless another board member brought it up first. But Hogan showed that he and his staff had focused on even some relatively small contracts — most of them on procurements begun under his predecessor. The two contracts that the board held up Wednesday because they had only one bidder were for less than $1 million.
Hogan's biggest target was the independent university system, where the governor said he had identified what appeared to be $35 million in cost overruns in five construction contracts at campuses around the state.
University system officials tried to allay the board's concerns, explaining that in some cases the contractor was providing new services that weren't in the original contracts, and that in one, market forces had driven up costs beyond original estimates.
But Hogan wasn't persuaded.
"You're sort of cavalier about $35 million more," he said.
Later, he demanded to know who was in charge of university construction procurement. Hogan said it was "very irritating" that Vice Chancellor James Salt wasn't present, and the board deferred four of the contracts until its next meeting.
Salt, reached after the meeting, said he would attend the next meeting and provide a clearer explanation of the contracts.
"I will do whatever the governor requires," he said. "Somehow the communication was flawed at today's meeting."
The university official said only one of the projects involved a project that came in at more than its originally budgeted cost: the $22 million Salisbury University athletic complex the board approved.
Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp suggested that part of the problem with the delayed contracts is the densely written way in which many agencies explain why they are seeking contract changes.
"It's almost like Never-Never Land to us. We're laymen," Kopp said.