California agencies approved more than 8,000 no-bid contracts with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and many have since been “auto-renewed” with little or no oversight under the state’s public health emergency declaration, which has been in effect for nearly three years.
The no-bid contracts, awarded mostly by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and California Department of Technology, include more than 80 work orders of at least $25 million and total at least $12 billion, according to analyses by Kaiser Health News, the nonpartisan nonprofit CalMatters news services, and budget watchdogs such as the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.
