Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen’s administration is facing scrutiny after changing its story about how and why an emergency no-bid contract was awarded to a bioeconomy consulting firm.
In January the state auditor, Mike Foley, said the contract awarded by the Nebraska Department of Economic Development went to a firm owned by a lobbyist the governor knows, as first reported by the Nebraska Examiner.
Laura Stimple, a spokeswoman for Governor Pillen’s office, said that agricultural tech CEO Laura Bushell had been working for the state for free to improve a federal grant application to secure funds.
Stimple said it made sense to award the formal contract to Bushell once lawmakers approved the funding.
The examiner previously reported that state records showed the economic development department officials did not know the firm they were working with when the contract was awarded.
Strimple also touted the return on investment of $2.5 million for the bioeconomy contract, saying the state invested in Bushell for results, and she delivered.
