Sacramento - An informational hearing of the Assembly Select Committee on Procurement is scheduled to take place on Thursday, May 15, 2008 at the State Capitol, in Room 126 from 1:00pm to 3:00pm.  Slated as “An Examination of the Office Depot Contract with the State of California’s Department of General Services (DGS),” the purpose of the hearing is to gain an understanding of how the Office Depot contract benefits small and DVBE businesses.  The hearing will also investigate the assertion that the state has been overcharged by Office Depot.

“This is a multi-million dollar office supply contract,” said Assemblymember Price, Chair of the Select Committee.  “It is the express duty of the Select Committee to facilitate legitimate and substantive State contracts for small businesses and provide oversight on those contracts accordingly.”
  
The Department of General Services awarded the $25,000,000 contract to Office Depot and a consortium of nine other small companies approximately two years ago.  According to those involved in the contract, small businesses were tapped to handle 98 percent of the supply sales to state agencies.

The hearing was prompted after allegations of price discrepancies with Office Depot contracts surfaced in states such as: Nebraska, North Carolina, and Georgia. Recently, the state of Georgia cancelled its contract with Office Depot due to the recurring price variances and alleged overcharges.

In response to the assertion that the state of California has also been overcharged for office supplies, the DGS has launched an internal audit. Testimony is scheduled to be given on the Commercially Useful Function of the Office Depot small business consortium members, pricing discrepancies, and concerns regarding the costs of the contract. 

Invitees to the hearing include representatives from the Department of General Services and Office Depot, as well as members of the Office Depot small business consortium.