Lobbyists banking billions on no-bid contracts

Greg B. Smith of the New York Daily News used state data to show that “in the state Department of Transportation alone, lobbyists schmoozed the agency on nearly $1.3 billion in contracts in the past two years … only a handful of these contracts were awarded competitively with sealed bids, a process that significantly restricts influence-peddling.” Lobbyists are not required to detail efforts made to win government contracts for their clients.