The Louisiana legislature hit the brakes on their forward momentum on transparency this week in voting to allow State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek distribute no-bid educational consultant contracts. With overwhelming majorities from the House (9-25) and Senate (37-0), the bill now goes to Governor Jindal’s desk. From the AP:

Under current law, educational consultants whose services top a $50,000 price tag must be hired through a competitive bidding process. Pastorek wanted educational consultants hired by the Department of Education added to a list of “professional services” – like doctors, engineers and accountants – for which contracts can be awarded without competitive bidding.

Lawmakers worked on several versions of the language, finally settling on a measure (House Bill 891) that would give Pastorek the authority to skip the bid process for contracts up to $250,000 and only for one budget year. The consultants must hold doctorate degrees in education.

Competitive bidding not only gives the bidding process transparency, but also encourages public scrutiny on bidders and ensures taxpayers receive the best price on state services.