How did the Whitmer Administration approve an emergency contract if it did not go through the appropriate government processes?
April 21, 2020
Questions Linger After Whitmer Cancels No-Bid Contract For Political Vendor After Less Than 24 Hours
Today, the Washington Free Beacon reported that Governor Gretchen Whitmer awarded a contract for Michigan’s COVID-19 contact-tracing operation to “one of her own campaign vendors and one of the left’s biggest technology firms.”
MIRS News, a Lansing-based subscription service reported on April 20 that a spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services responded that “the state’s procurement rules do not require a competitive bidding process during a state emergency” when asked how many bids the state received for the contract.
When the Detroit News asked about the contract on April 21, the state did not respond.
Hours later, Crain’s Detroit reported that “Whitmer’s office said the agency was terminating the one-day-old contract. The State Emergency Operations Center did not approve the contract.”
“How did the Whitmer Administration approve an emergency contract if it did not go through the appropriate government processes? Gov. Whitmer’s office is saying the SEOC didn’t approve the contract, but the announcement of the contract came from the SEOC via email on April 20. Something does not add up and Michigan taxpayers deserve answers. – Tori Sachs, executive director of Michigan Rising Action.
The news of Whitmer giving a no-bid COVID-19 contract to campaign consultants comes at the same time the Detroit News reports that police and health officials rebutted Whitmer’s claims about ambulance problems during the recent protest against her excessive executive orders.