Katrina subcontracting plans incomplete, GAO finds

Departments should keep better records of subcontracts going to small businesses during emergency situations, such as in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Government Accountability Office said in a new report. GAO also said inspectors general should review recordkeeping practices.

Required information on small business subcontracting is not consistently available in official procurement data systems of the Defense and Homeland Security departments, the General Services Administration, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, GAO found.

Specifically, the systems had no information on whether DHS or GSA required subcontracting plans for 70 percent or more of their contracting funds. But when agencies decided the plans were unnecessary, they often gave no explanation, GAO found.

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