When the administration of Gov. George E. Pataki awarded the contract, some lawmakers questioned whether the company was the best choice.
Lois T. Bronz, the board's vice chairwoman, said she had not seen the contract but lawmakers would like it finalized in September.
It goes back seven decades to the Hatch Act, and was designed to eliminate two practices that had led to corruption in Washington: companies using political donations to bribe their way to a lucrative federal contract, and lawmakers extorting money from companies that wished to do business with the government.
By Thursday, they were very close to a memorandum of understanding — a contract really — between lawmakers and Chancellor Klein.
Last week, Governor Pataki's top political consultant and his former chief spokesman pulled out of a lucrative power authority contract after Democratic lawmakers accused the governor, a Republican, of using public authorities for patronage.
But government contracts held by lawmakers' close relatives, he said, should be.
The PMA Group, the firm at the center of the inquiry, was a major player in the specialized business of lobbying to obtain defense earmarks -- the contracts that individual lawmakers can insert into major spending bills.
The Birmingham News reported in 2006 that a quarter of the 140 members of the Legislature had financial ties to the college system, with most of the jobs or contracts going to lawmakers or their relatives.
"This is the best day we've had in a while," said Representative Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican who has been a fierce opponent of earmarks -- no-bid contracts directed by lawmakers -- but had found little support among Republican colleagues before this week.
The goal is to replace layers of unaccountable bureaucracy and create an early warning system to identify offenders; apply tighter management to the most vital contracts; and provide lawmakers, the secretary of defense and the president with the information they need to decide whether to terminate projects.
