Massachusetts Senate Panel Approves No New Votes but Demands Written Procurement Reforms From MassDOT

BOSTON — March 24, 2026 — Massachusetts Senate post audit panel scrutinizes collapsed MassDOT service plaza bid and demands procurement overhaul. Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro appeared before the Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight on March 24 to present eight findings from his February 27 investigatory letter, citing a conflict of interest disclosure form with no space for actual disclosures, persistent ex parte communications between Apple Green affiliates and the selection committee chair, and a live roll call scoring process that exposed evaluators to peer influence — all flaws in what was structured as a 35-year, multi-hundred-million-dollar lease covering all 18 state highway service plazas. MassDOT Interim Secretary Phillip Bing and Under Secretary Jonathan Gulliver testified that a complete reset is underway: the plazas will be bundled into three geographic groups, financial scoring will rise from 25 percent to 60 percent of the total score using hard math rather than projected revenues, and a double-blind evaluation process will separate technical and financial review teams. Committee Chair Mark C. Montigny, citing a potential $500 million revenue delta from the failed bid, demanded written recommendations from Shapiro before any new procurement advances and pressed MassDOT to explain why communications described as a "love fest" in the Inspector General's report surfaced only through a civil lawsuit rather than in response to committee document requests.