In case you’re wondering who created the GOP’s fantasy budget that slashes at already-starved social programs, gives out more tax cuts, and winds up leaving a smoking $1.2 billion debt crater where the state of Minnesota used to be, wonder no more — Sally Jo Sorensen’s got the information right here in this paragraph from a Politics in Minnesota Weekly Report:

The catch? Even those with fiscal notes predict savings much smaller than Republicans contend — some even cost more money. Where are the GOP numbers coming from? Recently, details have begun to emerge: State Government Innovation Chair Mike Parry confirmed Thursday that he’s worked with the consulting giant Accenture (as Weekly Report noted last Friday) as well as IBM and Deloitte in crafting some of his cost-saving proposals. The firms approached the Senate caucus, Parry added, and though they are using public data for their work, they have no formal contracts with the state [emphasis added](although some contracts would become available if the proposals they worked on were implemented) [emphasis added].

Sally Jo wonders, and rightly so, how this could pass ethical muster — and how did these companies approach the GOP caucus?

And what statutes and lobbying regulations govern this sort of informal behavior? Those companies are working on “spec”–would those contracts be publicly bid, or does this give them an inside track? Is there an informal means to pay them in the absence of a formal contract?

Somehow I have the feeling these questions might never get asked in a legally binding capacity.

GOP fantasy budget

Tags: ethical lapses, fiscal fantasies, logrolling, Minnesota, Republican Party of Minnesota

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