The flow of billions of dollars into state and local government with the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is going put significant amounts of money into the hands of public buyers at a time when finances are tight across the board in the U.S.  Consequently, the Federal Government, who is in charge of distributing funds and overseeing the way they are spent is putting a premium on responsible purchasing and good stewardship.

Even so, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is anticipating fraud at the public level to “continue to skyrocket”.  Since 2003, public corruption cases have increased by more than half since to 2,500 pending investigations, according to FBI Director Robert Mueller:

“The unprecedented level of financial resources committed by the federal government to combat the economic downturn will lead to an inevitable increase in economic crime and public corruption cases,” Mueller said.

Anticipating this increase in public fraud, the FBI has stepped up its recruiting efforts to ensure that as much public corruption as possible is rooted out, and in April, the Senate is expected to vote on legislation to give $245 million to the FBI to investigate exactly that kind of fraud.

The eye on public purchasing from both the federal level and the individual level has never been more watchful.  Public buying, even when done efficiently and transparently, is going to be scrutinized extensively, and purchasing organizations are going to have to ensure that they are not only purchasing the right way, but also that they are able to demonstrate responsible purchasing readily.

For that reason, BidBridge’s reverse auction is tool perfectly suited for Stimulus spending.  It allows the buyer access to a platform that generates maximum fair competition among a pool of qualified suppliers, resulting in true market value for purchases.  Additionally, at the conclusion of a BidBridge reverse auction, buyers have immediate access to timely, transparent reporting that allows the buyer to make an educated decision to award quickly, and to communicate and justify the award decision to supervisors, suppliers, and the public.

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