Summary

On May 4, 2005, the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (Department) entered into a Contractual Service Agreement (Agreement) with the National Safety Commission, Inc. (NSC),[1] under which NSC agreed to provide printing and distribution of Florida Driver’s Handbooks (Handbooks) at no cost to the Department in return for the exclusive right to Department-approved advertising in the Handbooks, on the Web, and in flyers and posters.  Our review of the contracting process and the terms and conditions of the resulting Agreement disclosed the following:

• The Department did not document in the public record its consideration and disposition of any potential conflicts of interest identified in connection with the evaluation of the vendor response to the Invitation to Negotiate.  We also found that neither the provisions of Part III of Chapter 112, Florida Statutes, nor Departmental policies and procedures require the avoidance of instances in which there will exist the appearance of a conflict of interest on the part of Department management or employees involved in the procurement process.

• Section 283.58, Florida Statutes, authorizes distribution of public information without charge; however, it was not clear that the Department had the authority to allow NSC to charge a shipping and handling fee of up to $6.95.

• Section 283.58, Florida Statutes, provides the underlying basis for the contract with NSC; however, this statute does not specifically provide for Web‑based publications and commerce or require an evaluation of the potential impact that proposed advertising may have on the competition within an industry.  Moreover, it was not clear that this statute authorized the Department to allow the placement of advertising external to public information material, such as the Handbooks.

The Executive Director's response is included in its entirety at the end of this report as Appendix A.