This second edition of Contracting for Services in State and Local Government Agencies provides state-of-the-art tools for best practice in the procurement of services at state and local levels, from initial stages through to completion. Including lively case studies and research conducted with state and local agencies across the United States, this book provides management advice and tips on compliance to reduce costs, select the best-qualified contractors, manage contractors’ performance, and prevent corruption and waste. Utilizing the results of new research in all fifty states, author William Sims Curry offers updated best-practice documents, methodologies, and templates including: a Request for Proposal (RFP), a scorecard for proposals to select the best-qualified contractor, a toolkit for meeting socioeconomic contracting goals without compromising price, quality, or on-time delivery, and a Model Services Contract (MSC). Special consideration is given to obtaining services and products in states of emergency. Several additional resources for practitioners are available online, including sample contracts and a straightforward, inexpensive tool for tracking contractors’ progress and cost management. The roadmap and templates contained in this book and available online to readers will prove essential to state and local government agency contracting professionals and other officials and employees called upon to participate in the drafting of solicitations, writing sole source justifications, writing scopes of work, serving on advance contract planning and source selection teams, recommending award of contracts, or assisting in the management of those contracts.

This volume presents a reprint of an article from The Urban Lawyer, which summarizes legislative and legal activities affecting state and local government procurement for the period 1983 through early 1985, focusing particularly on the enactment of the Model Procurement Code for state and local governments.

"The National Association of State Procurement Officials is proud to make the State and Local Government Procurement: A Practical Guide, 4th Edition, available to government professionals, students, suppliers, educators, and others interested in learning about public procurement. Whether you are a seasoned procurement professional or new to the field, this guide should provide you a valuable reference tool in your efforts. This edition of NASPO's flagship guide features many changes, improvements, and additional content"--

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 1996 the total direct expenditure for state and local governments in the United States was $1,247,435,978,000 (over $1.2 Trillion)! How much of that did your company receive? Written from the viewpoint of someone who has spent many years "on the other side of the table," Charlie takes you inside the government purchasing process. But more importantly, he takes you inside the minds of the government buyers. His insights into the motivation and perspective of the government officials you will deal with in a public sector sale are invaluable. Selling to State and Local Government is must read for sales professionals interested in entering the rewarding world of selling to state and local government.

The second edition of Government Contracting: Promises and Perils picks up where the first edition’s mission left off: exposing fraud, incompetence, waste, and abuse (FIWA) and analyzing corruption, mismanagement, and ineptitude that defile government contracting. The first edition thoroughly outlined procurement throughout the contracting cycle including initial planning, contractor selection, contract administration, contract closeout, and auditing. This significantly revised new edition provides additional much-needed guidance on contracting documents, management tools, and processes for addressing negative influences on government contracting, including an improved approach to evaluating proposals. Specific guidance for avoiding FIWA is provided for government officials and employees, government agencies, and government contractors, and practical solutions to problems faced by individuals and organizations involved in government contracting are intended for both practitioner and pedagogical applications. The "Government Procurement Corruption Wall of Shame" that was introduced in the first edition to illustrate contracting perils such as conflicts of interest, duplicity, favoritism, incompetence, kickbacks, and protests is continued in the second edition, and cases illustrating the existence of FIWA in government contracting have been thoroughly updated. Contracting documents and contract management tools are provided on a website designed to accompany the book. Written at the graduate level and specifically intended for state, local, federal, and international government procurement activities, this textbook is required reading for public procurement, contract management, business, and public administrations courses.