A transparent government is a good government – Orange County Register

Government at all levels works best when there are checks and balances to ensure programs funded with taxpayer dollars give the best results for our money.

Those checks and balances also include ensuring that employees – whether they are public or private sector employees – participating in these programs can raise concerns when something is not working. okay without fear of retaliation.

Sadly, in the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the out-of-control Newsom Administration has spent billions of dollars in taxes on non-bid confidential contracts under the guise of containing the pandemic. Using powers acquired during the pandemic emergency, Governor Newsom has entered into far too many no-bid contracts that receive little or no public scrutiny. Many contracts, such as that with PerkinElmer at Valencia Branch Labs, were automatically renewed without any oversight or accountability.

In October 2020, Newsom Regulatory Authority announced a $1.7 billion contract with Valencia Branch Laboratories to great fanfare, boasting that the lab would process 100,000 tests. test for COVID every day and deliver results within 48 hours. Since then, we have learned that the lab was experiencing serious problems and never met its contractual goals, but it was quietly auto-renewed on last year.

In addition to poor performance, whistleblowers also point to unlicensed lab technicians falling asleep on the job, lack of supervision over untrained staff, contaminated tests dirty, swapped samples, test errors, a high rate of “inconclusive” results, and inaccurate results are made available to people who don’t have a process to troubleshoot. Some samples were taken to the bathroom before being tested. Aghast.

While the Newsom Authority expressed outrage and promised to conduct its own investigation, it delayed releasing the results for months. I have called for the release of the report and urged the Administration to suspend the extension until all details are known. Conveniently, the report, which criticized the lab and supported the whistleblower’s allegations, was not released until after the contract was automatically renewed late at night.

Furthermore, Californians would not know about the Valencia lab’s failure because the accusers didn’t risk their careers to expose the lab’s obvious defects. They deserve the same protections as other public workers who call attention to heartbreaking problems at public office.

This process is very lacking in oversight and accountability, which is why I have introduced two important measures that will add accountability to no-bid contracts and expand the measures. Whistleblower protection for individuals brave enough to expose contractor fraud or waste.

Senate Constitution Amendment (SCA) 7 would increase oversight by requiring non-tender contracts of $25 million or more entered into on or after January 1, 2023 to be subject to review. Joint Legislative Budget Committee oversight hearing prior to any contract extension or extension. This will ensure that no-bid contracts are not simply automatically renewed without the opportunity for public input, discussion and intense debate about the performance of these suppliers. .

Senate Bill 947 would promote accountability by empowering employees of these non-tendering contracts to report fraud, waste, abuse, and improper activity, without fear of retaliation by granting them the same protections that whistleblowers have afforded public employees.