OMAHA- Nebraska governors seem to be management stewards rather than policy innovators according to political scientists. But, the Ricketts administration has made troubling mistakes on the fundamentals of government management.

Recently, a report came out about the State Department of Administrative Services and their $21 billion in accounting errors. The errors seemed to come from documentation and assigning funds incorrectly. Although those mistakes seem minuscule, if a private company did the same it would be considered a glaring failure.

The State Department of Health and Human Services also signed another contract with St. Francis Ministries. This time, Nebraska signed an emergency 25-month contract with the ministry after they ran out of the money to handle child welfare services. This problem seems to have come from the governor's acceptance of an oddly low bid, which was 40% lower than what the state had been paying to previous contractor, PromiseShip. The article notes, "Accounting, after all, is famous for its rigorous reliance on standards — universally adopted financial procedures to ensure professionally managed accounts."

The Legislature is fully justified to investigate St. Francis Ministries and find out why the administration OKed a contract that was such a dramatic underbid.

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