State and local governments across the country spend an estimated $2 trillion in goods or services every year—from repairing bridges to janitorial services to purchasing textbooks.

Given the immense amount of public money transferred to the private sector through government contracting, procurement policies and procedures are important levers states and localities can use to support jobs in the private sector, set standards for the quality of those jobs, and help determine who receives training and access to those jobs.

This policy brief describes a number of responsible contracting policies that aim to ensure that a governmental entity’s procurement process is fair, transparent, and does not result in risky privatization contracts, and includes a selection of responsible contracting laws from localities and states around the country that encompass one or more of these policy ideas.

Photo by Maryland GovPics.