State Suspends Engineering Consultant Contracts

Consultant contracts recently have been suspended in the state of Minnesota, thereby reducing state work for M/E engineers.

The state recently enacted a budget imposing a moratorium on consultant contracts, reducing contract expenditures and freezing state employee hiring through June 30, 2003.

“The effect of this legislation is that the Minnesota consulting engineering community can look forward to fewer state projects over the next year,” says Mary Detloff, executive director of the Minnesota Society of Professional Engineers. “There is also a concern that the moratorium will be extended beyond June 30, 2003, because of a projected $2 billion budget shortfall for the 2004-2005 biennium.”

One of the only bright spots for consultants is that the original bills were amended to provide exceptions for contracts that reduce costs, and contracts that contain costs entirely recovered from non-state entities. Exceptions also include contracts that relate to a threat to the public health, safety or welfare.

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