A new Democrat-led bill proposes a study of aligning the state’s procurement processes with the Mills’ administration’s climate action plan, amid recent revelations of systemic oversight failures in the state’s issuance no-bid contracts.
LD 1494, or a resolution “Directing the Office of Procurement Services to Study Adapting the Procurement Process to the State Climate Action Plan,” is sponsored by Democratic State Rep. Victoria Doudera of Camden and cosponsored by eight other Democratic state lawmakers.
[RELATED:Mills’ Millions: Maine Taxpayers Foot Bill for Absurd No-Bid Contracts…]
The bill would direct the Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services’ (DAFS) Office of State Procurement Services (OSPS) to coordinate with all three branches of state government to study “adapting” the state’s procurement process to the state’s climate action plan, and to provide a report to the Legislature’s State and Local Government Committee on its findings by Dec. 3, 2025.
Included in the survey would be an assessment of the percentage of state procurements that take into account climate change impacts, a review of how state agencies have adapted their procurement to the climate action plan over the past three fiscal years and how agencies “may have missed” opportunities to align bids for goods and services with the state’s greenhouse gas emission goals.
The findings of report would be used to present a bill related to adapting the state procurement process for climate change initiatives during the second session of the 132nd Legislature next year.
Maine’s four-year climate action plan, entitled “Maine Won’t Wait” and updated most recently in November 2024, sets a goal of the state having a 100 percent “clean electricity” grid by 2040, alongside prioritization of increasing electric vehicle (EV) adoption, encouraging use of public transportation, and investing in offshore wind power.
[RELATED: What Environmental Policies Can Mainers Expect from State Gov’t in the Coming Years? — Maine Climate Council Updates “Maine Won’t Wait” Plan…]
The introduction of LD 1494 comes just weeks after State Auditor Matt Dunlap published a devastating audit revealing systemic oversight and ethical issues within the DAFS/OSPS procurement process, specifically when it comes to the state bypassing the competitive bidding through no-bid single source contracts.
State Auditor Dunlap’s report found that $2.1 billion in fiscal year 2024 contract payments were made under a system the audit described as lacking basic supervisory oversight and controls.
Of 31 such single source procurement contracts reviewed as part of the audit, 16 lacked required documentation proving a reasonable investigation into alternatives, violating competitive bidding mandates under Maine law.
Additionally, many of the contracts lacked evidence of cost analysis and were only approved after work had already begun under the contract, the auditors report shows.
[RELATED: ‘Pattern of Negligence–or Worse’: Maine Republican Senators Urge AG Pam Bondi to Investigate State Finances After Devastating Audit…]
The Mills administration has paid tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars towards climate change initiatives through no-bid contracts in recent years, including several projects centered around bringing climate change education and political activism into Maine public schools:
- Maine State Library Pays $12,000 for ‘toolkit’ to Teach Children About ‘climate change and climate action’
- Mills Administration Hires California-Based Nonprofit to Guide Public Schools Toward Zero Carbon Goals
- Mills Admin Partners with Woke Brunswick Nonprofit to Train Maine Students to be Climate Change Activists
The bill is scheduled for a public hearing before the Legislature’s State and Local Government Committee on Wednesday, April 16 at 1:35 p.m.
