Competition Matters

Many of the steps that public purchasers can take to deter vendor collusion, such as making sure bidders submit all required documentation with their bids, can also increase their chances of recovering compensation if bidder collusion does occur and a lawsuit results.

Did you know that two websites compile and publish public notices about competitive bidding opportunities and other proceedings in Ohio?

In October 2011, a Nor’easter deposited an enormous and crippling snowfall across much of the East Coast. Now, two years later, the Connecticut Attorney General has filed an antitrust lawsuit alleging three snow removal companies engaged in an illegal boycott and bid-rigging conspiracy that caused Southbury, Conn., and its taxpayers to pay too much to make the town’s roads safe and passable during that extreme weather event.

Our first issue of Competition Matters in August described Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s Partnership for Competitive Purchasing, a program designed to take a proactive approach to bid-rigging detection. The partnership is a voluntary program open to all Ohio public entities — from township governments to state agencies and small school districts to public universities. The Attorney General’s Antitrust Section staff periodically select one registered public entity and provide an on-site review of the bid records for one or more products or services purchased by that entity.

We encourage you to suggest a topic for or ask a question of the legal staff of the Ohio Attorney General’s Antitrust Section. Questions will be addressed in future issues of Competition Matters. (No individuals’ or organizations’ names will be published.) Please submit your questions or suggested topics to Karen Pierson at Karen.Pierson@OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov.