There is a difference between an obstacle and an emergency.
An obstacle is something in the way. It is a pothole. A detour sign. A hurdle in the path of a race.
An emergency is an all-hands-on-deck situation. A house on fire. A train derailment. A flood.
Notice the difference in severity.
It probably doesn’t come as a surprise. Most people can easily identify the discrepancy. But most people aren’t state government.
Let’s take lottery balls. You know, the little white spheres with numbers that bounce around in a hopper for the fair and unbiased determination of winners of games in live television drawings.
Is there a situation in which anyone would consider the purchase of lottery balls to be an actual state emergency? It’s unlikely.
Yet, the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue did, spending $80 per ball to purchase 30 sets of balls without bidding the buy, according to a Pennlive.com story. OK, sure, they are special balls that fit the lottery’s precise specifications. But does that really constitute an emergency?
According to the state’s competitive bidding process, yes, it does. Should it though?
Rep. Jason Ortitay, R-Allegheny County, doesn’t think so. He is chairman of a House subcommittee looking at how no-bid contracts are being blurred in emergency purchasing. A bill from that committee recently passed the House and moved to the Senate. If passed into law, it would limit emergency purchases to things related to actual emergencies.
If only one company provides the item in question, it would seem like an easy bidding process. But maybe there could be vendors that weren’t known. New companies open. New product lines could be introduced at existing companies.
And the bidding process always allows the government to evaluate offers beyond just the lowest price. Pennsylvania goes for the best bid, not the lowest, so reliability and quality can still be a factor.
There is no reason that the state cannot plan ahead with a purchase like lottery balls — or anything else that is convenience masquerading as necessity. Poor planning and laziness are obstacles, not emergencies.
