Kyle Massey of Arkansas Business reports that the state procurement office has canceled bid solicitations for the $14 million state tourism marketing contract.

It apparently is tinkering with terms of the solicitation. Massey reports that this comes Sen. Jimmy Hickey of Texarkana works on legislation on such state contracts, with an eye toward putting more emphasis on pricing in the request for proposals process, which allows the state to choose someone who is not the low bidder on professional contracts.

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This follows a recent dispute over the state lottery contract, which went to CJRW over protests from other competitors that the agency had a conflict of interest because it also represented a major lottery gambling competitor, Oaklawn Park. CRJW also won the state economic development marketing work after Asa Hutchinson became governor. It currently holds a major part of the tourism work.

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