Three minority- or woman-owned firms barred from doing business by the State of Maryland got contracts for nearly $90,000 in city business, according to a story in The Baltimore Sun, reporting on information first disclosed by Baltimore Government Watch.

Taken together with reports last week that the city had given a lucrative towing contract to a company that lost its state certification to do business thanks to a tax lien, the news is raising questions about the city spending board that approved the contracts, the Board of Estimates.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, City Council President  Bernard C. “Jack” Young, Comptroller Joan M. Pratt, City Solicitor George Nilson and Public Works Director Alfred H. Foxx approved the contracts, as members of the Board.

The city has suspended the license of Aaron’s Towing on Kirk Ave. after the Sun reported that the company has been barred from doing business by the state.

City Council members said that spending procedures need to be revamped, including Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke, who told the Sun she was shocked that the Board was not checking whether contractors were in good standing with the state: “It’s time for them to start checking.”