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Nebraska Auditor of Public Accounts Mike Foley testifies before the Legislature’s Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee. Feb. 5, 2026. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
LINCOLN — State Auditor Mike Foley, amplifying his probe of a 2024 emergency no-bid state bioeconomy contract Gov. Jim Pillen steered to a lobbyist he knew, sought legislative help Thursday so his office can provide more scrutiny of such deals.
Foley referenced his audit letters and Examiner reporting about the Nebraska Department of Economic Development’s $2.5 million, emergency no-bid contract with agricultural tech CEO Julie Bushell and her Global Sustainability Developers of Lincoln.
Foley testified in support of Legislative Bill 997 from State Sen. Bob Andersen of Sarpy County, brought at Foley’s request. The bill would require filing an extra copy of any state no-bid contract, including emergency ones, with the Nebraska Auditor’s Office.
‘Accountability, transparency and fairness’
The effort would cover roughly 0.5% of 2,000 to 3,000 state contracts entered each year that are allowed to skip going out for competitive bids. Most deal with public health or the potential loss of state funds.
The proposed auditor-bound contracts would include a form Foley alleges the Nebraska Department of Economic Development improperly filled out on the bioeconomy contract with Pillen-recommended Bushell. The agency left blank the required justification of the emergency, which Foley says is required in state law.
Foley and Andersen described the competitive bidding process as a “bedrock” component of sound governance. Both said the process exists to save money and ensure taxpayers get the best product for the best price.
“Without exaggeration, state agencies enter into contracts with outside parties, two to three thousand times a year,” Foley said. “In almost every instance, they do so after conducting a competitive bidding process.”
Said Andersen: “Nebraskans expect accountability, transparency and fairness in the operations of their government. LB 997 is a good governance measure that speaks … to these principles.”
‘On my radar’
State Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha asked how Foley would stop bad actors, and the auditor said LB 997 would limit the use of no-bid contracts to “real emergencies.” He said it would make state agency directors think twice about skipping steps.
Those who file emergency no-bid contracts would need to understand, Foley said, that they are essentially “waving a red flag at me.”
“Right away I’d be asking some questions,” the auditor testified. “I can’t stop it. I can’t approve it. But it would be on my radar. I would be watching it.”
Foley was joined in support Thursday by a testifier with ties to the Governor’s Office, Lee Will of the Department of Administrative Services, whose office received a copy of the DED contract with Bushell that Foley’s audit letters mentioned. DAS is essentially the state’s contract clearinghouse.
As he has told the Examiner, Will said Thursday that DAS decided after the Foley audit of the DED contract to take a more active role in making sure written justifications are filled out on any emergency no-bid contracts.
Executive branch support
DED, Pillen no-bid contract fight with auditor heads to State Patrol, AG
Will said he supports LB 997 because it would build upon previous legislative efforts to make state contracting work better with an extra set of eyes. DAS does not typically support legislation without clearance from the Governor’s Office.
The Governor’s Office did not immediately respond to questions seeking comment on its stance.
“Improving state procurement processes has been a key initiative over the last few years,” Will said.
A former DED employee has identified Will as the person who suggested that DED skip the open bidding process and pursue an emergency, no-bid contract with Bushell instead of bidding the contract out competitively, while Will was state budget administrator. Will has not disputed that recollection but said he did not remember.
Foley has criticized both DED and the Governor’s Office for shifting explanations of why and how the state agency, in consultation with the Pillen administration, chose Bushell for the bioeconomy contract in 2024. Pillen has told Foley he personally recommended Bushell for the deal.
Pillen team offers new explanation for timing of $2.5 million no-bid emergency contract
Foley confirmed earlier this week that he had referred his audit findings to Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers and the Nebraska State Patrol for investigation and possible prosecution.
Much of Thursday’s hearing covered reporting in the Examiner about the DED contract with Bushell’s firm. Foley answered questions from Cavanaugh and State Sens. Megan Hunt of Omaha, Dunixi Guereca of Omaha and Dave Wordekemper of Fremont.
Hunt asked whether Foley had been notified when DED entered its emergency no-bid contract with Bushell. He said no. She asked whether he would have been under the new law. He said, “Yes.”
Foley said that, had LB 997 been in place, he could have notified then-DED director K.C. Belitz and told him he was missing something. And he would have watched more closely sooner in the process about whether the contract needed audit scrutiny.
“I would do what I did in this instance, write up the agency, conduct an audit, make a report, note the infraction,” he said.
