Posted on 03/02/25
| News Source: FOX45
Baltimore, MD - Mar. 2, 2025 - Maryland’s spending board approved $445 million in new information technology contracts despite lawmakers still having unanswered questions about $1.03 billion in IT project spending that a legislative audit showed a state agency could not explain.
The Maryland Board of Public Works (BPW) hearing, typically chaired by Gov. Wes Moore, was kicked off on Wednesday morning with Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller serving in his seat as his proxy.
Before the board began discussing the nearly half-a-billion-dollar collection of supplemental expenditure for Statewide Agile Resources IT contracts, Comptroller Brooke Lierman announced she was recusing herself before leaving the room.
The 45-minute BPW hearing, held in the Governor’s Reception Room outside the governor’s office in the Maryland State House, was dominated by discussion of the IT contracts.
The Statewide Agile contract is integral to supporting the operational requirements of Maryland’s Health and Human Services benefit programs on the MD THINK platform,” BPW’s meeting agenda said. “The contract provides the necessary resources to maintain daily operations, perform critical platform maintenance, and implement essential system enhancements and new functionalities.”
Two weeks ago, the Agile Resources IT contracts were abruptly removed from the BPW’s agenda after a bipartisan group of state senators criticized the supplemental expenditure.
The BPW agenda said many of the state’s social welfare programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and state Medicaid programs, would be at risk without BPW’s supplemental contract award. The procurement process was sealed for the dozens of proposed contracts under the Agile Resources allocation, according to BPW’s agenda.
Secretary Atif Chaudhry, the Maryland Department of General Services chief, testified before the remaining two members of the three-member BPW board that immediate action is necessary to avoid the potential loss of federal funds for the IT contracts.
“While fully recognizing and respecting the board’s duty and commitment to protecting the state’s fiscal integrity by ensuring expenditures are necessary, appropriate, responsible, fair, as well as lawful, the Department of General Services fully supports proceeding with the award of the Statewide Agile Resources contract despite ongoing protests and appeals,” Chaudhry said.
Maryland regulations permit private-sector businesses to file protests and appeals with the state if they believe that vendors who successfully receive state government contracts fail to meet the project’s minimum requirements, cannot perform the work for the awarded bid amount, the state did not fairly consider all bidders, or the state unfairly altered bid requirements during the evaluation process.
State records show more than 20 protests and appeals were submitted to the state’s Board of Contract Appeals. In mid-December, Gov. Moore nominated former Sen. Jill Carter, D-Baltimore City, to fill a long-standing vacancy on the quasi-judicial government contract oversight board.
We understand the magnitude of this decision and it requiring careful oversight,” Chaudhry said. “However, the need to protect the state’s substantial interests and federal funding in public services that Marylanders depend on very heavily requires the board’s decision here today.”
BPW board member Dereck Davis, the state treasurer, read a letter from state senators before calling for a vote on the IT contracts.
“Rather than trying to summarize it, I want to read what they gave to me, just so, even though we are doing this today, their feelings on what we are doing, and well, you’ll get it from the tone of the statement that they prepared,” Davis said.
The treasurer proceeded to read the statement sent from state lawmakers.
“The legislature has a lot of questions about how this contract may be enshrining the same old, same old that hasn’t worked for decades,” David read. “Time and time again, it has been made clear that agencies do not have the internal capacity to represent the state as project managers on major IT development projects.”
The lawmakers’ letter detailed findings from a September 2024 financial audit conducted by the Maryland Office of Legislative Audit. The audit examined the Maryland Department of Information Technology (DoIT) 's IT contract management activities from May 7, 2018, to December 31, 2022.
DoIT did not review the methodology of key estimates, such as cost and schedule, and did not obtain an explanation for significant changes,” the audit said. “For example, DoIT was unable to explain why the estimated cost to complete two projects increased by over $1 billion.”
The same legislative audit became the focal point of a heated debate later Wednesday afternoon in the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee. Sen. Katie Fry Hester, D-Howard and Montgomery Counties, testified in support of a bill she is proposing to increase transparency and streamline state IT contract reporting.
“The lack of clarity, authority, and management and oversight really has led to poor project management, cost overruns, and failures,” Sen. Hester said. “[T]he audit found that DoIT delegated significant responsibilities to state agencies without ensuring state agencies had sufficient resources and qualified personnel.”
Hours before Sen. Hester testified in the Senate committee on Wednesday, the BPW approved the $445 million contract with a 2-0 vote.
State Del. Ryan Nawrocki, R-Baltimore County, told Spotlight on Maryland on Saturday that he is angry about BPW’s decision. He cited what he characterized as documented fundamental failures in the state’s management of IT contracts.
“We are in a massive budget hole right now. The $3 billion budget deficit seems to be getting bigger by the day. In the out years, it is projected to be beyond $6 billion,” Del. Nawrocki said. “We cannot continue digging when we are in this hole.”
We got to get this spending problem under control,” Del. Nawrocki added.
Gov. Moore’s office told Spotlight on Maryland via email that the BPW’s approval of the 39 private-sector IT state government contracts was essential. A spokesperson said that the governor has implemented measures to enhance IT project oversight “that were deficient under the previous administration.”
“The Moore-Miller Administration has made significant changes to the MD THINK program over the last two years to address significant issues and ensure that it can be sustainable and usable moving forward,” the governor’s office said.
Spotlight on Maryland further pressed Gov. Moore’s office about his absence at the BPW’s hearing on Wednesday, especially since he had no conflicting events on his public schedule. Requests were also sent to Comptroller Lierman’s office asking for clarification on her decision to recuse herself from voting.
Neither office responded to Spotlight on Maryland’s questions about attendance.