The upcoming primary election is a so-called off-year election and therefore will not allow voters to replace incumbents in Harrisburg or Washington or otherwise send a message about dissatisfaction with government. But as this and other elections approach, it is important for voters to know what some politicians are doing with their tax dollars.

A message — and new people — can be sent next year.

Unlike capital projects, consulting and other professional services generally do not have to be put out for competitive bids. And in Harrisburg, it appears this loophole has been abused.

No-bid contracts have not gotten the publicity of the ill-fated pay raise of 2005 or the $3.6 million legislative staff bonuses in late 2006. But no-bid contracts are a popular way for Harrisburg politicians to use other people's money (our tax dollars) to reward friends, relatives and former colleagues.

Philadelphia Daily News columnist John Baer recently listed a number of no-bid contracts, including a $70,000 contract to former state Sen. Hardy Williams. who is paid to offer advice on "health, welfare, housing and youth violence."

Baer added that former state Gaming Control Board member William Conaboy is paid $30,000 to offer advice on Medicare and Medicaid.

State Sen. Vincent Fumo, currently facing federal charges for misuse of $1 million in taxpayer funds and a similar amount of a Philadelphia nonprofit's funds, tops the list for awarding no-bid contracts with his $1.35 million contract with defense attorney Richard Sprague related to defending the federal charges.

Additionally, Fumo is spending another $415,000 on other law firms for his own defense and defense of some staffers.

Baer wrote that Senate Democratic Leader Bob Mellow of Scranton has an $85,000 contract with consultant Harold Donahue for advice on military and veterans issues. Mellow also is spending $60,000 of taxpayer dollars for a consulting contract with Ed Mitchell, a Wilkes-Barre media consultant.

These contracts might provide a service of some value, but the fact that most are awarded to the politically well-connected without an open, competitive bidding process raises suspicions.

The issue of no-bid contracts did receive some attention earlier this year in connection with the Fumo indictment. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, headed by a friend of Fumo's, paid $220,000 to Michael Palermo, another Fumo associate and former turnpike administrator, for consulting services on interstate transportation issues. But federal investigators working on the Fumo indictment found "no documentation regarding any work" that Palermo did for the quarter-of-a-million dollars.

Investigators did, however, find evidence that Palermo had apparently been managing Fumo's 100-acre farm near Harrisburg during the 2003-04 time period for which the no-bid consulting contract had been awarded.

Much like many legislators' use of Constitution-bending unvouchered expenses following the now-repealed pay raise of 2005, the practice of awarding no-bid contracts to friends, cronies and former colleagues has been below the public's radar. Now, with some media attention focused on the practice, that will change.

The public outrage over the pay-raise vote of 2005 helped launch a reform movement in Harrisburg. Similar outrage over no-bid contracts at the state legislature, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and other governmental agencies should end, or greatly curtail, the practice.

It's all part of what Baer describes as "the general gluttony of the nation's largest full-time legislature, annually eating $300 million of your dough."

No-bid contracts, called "service purchase contracts" in Harrisburg are too easily abused, and recent reports demonstrate that the practice should be ended.

Baer notes no-bid contracts are just another way our state's lawmakers say, "Hey, it's only tax dollars."