Interesting story from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser today.

Turns out that Ansaldo wasn’t the only rail car company that bid on the Honolulu job without a license. Bombardier, too, appears to have violated state procurement law.

Here’s the nut:

Ansaldo Honolulu JV agreed in October to pay $150,000 to settle a claim that Ansaldo violated the state contractors’ licensing law when it responded to two city requests for proposals before Ansaldo was licensed as a contractor.

However, state records show a second rail competitor, called Bombardier Transportation (Holdings) USA, also responded to a city request for proposals on the rail project in June 2009 before Bombardier was licensed as a Hawaii contractor.

Read the rest of the story here: 2 of 3 rail bidders lacked state license (subscription required)