A lawmaker wants to put the brakes on future no-bid state contracts for trains.

Last month Gov. Jim Doyle announced the state would buy two trains from a Spanish manufacturer for $47.5 million without a competitive bidding process. The move was legal because state law exempts passenger rail contracts from normal bidding rules.

Sen. Rob Cowles, R-Green Bay, said he wants to close that “loophole.”

“There is no way the governor should be able to negotiate and sign such a large contract without using a competitive bidding process,” Cowles said in a statement.

Since the Talgo deal was announced, three other train manufacturers have said they would have been interested in bidding for the contract.

But Doyle and aides have defended the deal because only Talgo gave the state a formal response to a request for information and because the Spanish firm, Patentes Talgo, has committed to creating 80 jobs in Wisconsin. 

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