Driver's licenses are causing a controversy in Albany.
At least two local officials were calling for a do-over Wednesday after the state made a tentative decision to award a disputed driver's license production contract to the highest bidder - a company offering licenses with black-and-white photos at a cost nearly $38 million higher than the current contract.
Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, D-Utica, and state Sen. Joseph Griffo, R-Rome, questioned the wisdom of the decision, which Griffo said ?flunks the test of common sense.?
Brindisi went so far as to call the state Comptroller's Office and send a letter to a deputy commissioner at the state Department of Motor Vehicles to share his concerns.
?The cost was a major factor,? Brindisi said, explaining that he received several calls on the issue from local constituents. ?Why would the state pay $38 million more to a company that plans to provide only black-and-white photographs, black-and-white licenses??
According to court papers reviewed by The Associated Press, the losing vendors, including the company that has produced New York licenses with color photos for 16 years, are protesting the $88.5 million award to Ottawa-based CBN Secure Technology Inc., and the state Comptroller's Office has started a review of the award.
CBN is part of the Canadian Bank Note company that prints Canadian money, passports and driver's licenses worldwide. Company officials did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
The DMV tentatively awarded the contract to the high bidder 10 months after New York advised the current vendor, De La Rue North America Inc., that because of ?significant budgetary constraints? the state would have to reduce the cost of the contract, according to the court filings.
As a result, De La Rue submitted a bid 10 percent lower for the new, eight-year contract, which ended up being nearly $38 million less than CBN's bid.
Brindisi said the difference in price is what's raising eyebrows, especially since contracts usually go to the lowest qualified bidder.
?Getting rid of government waste is essential to a healthy state economy and when you see things like this happen questions have to be asked about why they would choose to go with the highest bidder,? he said.
The extra expense would be spread over the life of the eight-year contract if it's approved. But Griffo said he hopes the Comptroller's review will result in the entire project being rebid.
?You're at the commissioner level and the commissioners make decisions, but this is also an administration that's very sensitive to efficiency and costs, so I'm sure that someone will look at this and say, 'Wait a minute, let's take another look,'? he said.
De La Rue, based in England, and Massachusetts-based MorphoTrustUSA, another unsuccessful bidder, also want a rebid.
Their lawsuit claims the state didn't fully inform bidders on the type of ID cards they were looking for, and that CBN's bid failed to provide the required color images.
State records, however, show the DMV criteria for the bid appear to not require a color image ID, according to a court filing.
Kate Gurnett, a spokeswoman for Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli declined to comment on a specific contract, but said the office's ?impartial review of bid protests is essential to protect New Yorkers from millions of dollars in unnecessary costs.?
The state Department of Motor Vehicles won't comment until the comptroller's review concludes and the contract award is final. But state records show cost was valued at just 20 percent of the evaluation of bids, with a 30 percent emphasis on security.
Other categories included production and quality control, the production site and data security, the imaging device and experience and expertise, according to the record.
Trade publications note the CBN technology and black-and-white photos are well-regarded for security in driver's licenses and other documents.
State records show no campaign contributions from its top officers to any New York officials. CBN, founded in 1897, also has a lottery systems division for gaming run by governments, but has no contracts with New York where Gov. Andrew Cuomo is trying to expand gambling.
The driver's license contract was rebid under the federal ?Real ID? measure from the Department of Homeland Security to make licenses more secure and more states are expected to face similar contract decisions.
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