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Sole mates: state entering sole-source contracts at a record pace.

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The state of New Hampshire is increasingly agreeing to enter contracts without putting them out to bid.

The Executive Council approved nearly $ 107 million in sole-source contracts in 2008, according to data collected from the council's minutes. That's six times the $18 million spent on such contracts in 2002, And in the first six months of this year; the state let out nearly $67 million in no-bid contracts, 63 percent over last year's pace.

"It's disturbing," said Executive Councilor Deborah Pignatelli, a frequent critic of such contracts and often the only executive councilor to vote against some of them. "Sole-source contracts should be the exception, and not the rule."

There are a number of reasons the number of such contracts has gone up that don't relate to any lack in the interest in bidding. Inflation and increased government spending (especially in the last year, due to economic stimulus spending) account for some of the increase. Increasing privatization also results in more no-bid amounts overall. And increasingly state government has relied on nonprofit agencies, like Healthy Kids and regional community action programs, to provide services it used to provide directly.

But no matter how the increase is measured, the pace with which the number of sole-source contracts has gone up indicates that state agencies are increasingly skipping the competitive bidding process.

The number of sole-source contracts bid though private companies has more than tripled from 2002 to 2008, to $19.6...

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