The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 allocates billions of dollars in stimulus awards to jumpstart state economies and finance public projects such as building bridges and paving roads.

Private contractors that do these jobs are going to get some of this stimulus money by winning bids for projects. That’s not a problem – so long as they play by the rules.

In order to yield the greatest economic benefit from these limited funds, the state of Ohio must maximize competition when contracting public projects.

However, some businesses seek to profit from these projects by illegally working together. By law, government bodies must hold a competitive bidding process in which potential contractors submit bids. Those bidders might illegally communicate in order to inflate prices and make more money at the taxpayers’ expense.

In conjunction with the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice, the Ohio Attorney General’s Antitrust Section is trying to protect stimulus funds from being exploited by fraudulent vendors. By eliminating collusion and fraud, state purchasing agents can reduce the costs of government expenditures, achieve the highest possible return on public dollars and save taxpayer money.

Ohio officials who make purchasing decisions about how to spend stimulus money should attend a training to learn about how to spot fraud and collusion.

Please RSVP by sending your name, phone number, the date on which you would like to attend, and whether you prefer the morning or afternoon session to AntitrustTraining@OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov. You may also call Lacey Slack at (614) 466-4328 to register or with any questions you may have on this important subject.

Links

Attend a training to spot stimulus fraud – Ohio Attorney General’s Office

Photo courtesy of ODOT