I have often seen it claimed that George W. Bush changed US policy to
allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.  Mostly
this appears all over the internet in various versions of "Bush's
Resume".  I'm doing a bit of independent journalism, and I want to
make this claim as well, but I first want some more solid
documentation of this.  I guess I would be happy just to see an
article published by some mainstream news outlet (CNN, Washington
Post, Christian Science Monitor, etc...) that also made this claim. 
Furthermore it would be nice to know the name of the law, a little
more background info, and the rationale for the change, but that's not
essential.  I will be happy with just something reliable to cite as a source.

Hello.

The claim in the "resume" is apparently referring to some government
contracting regulations that were instituted in the final days of the
Clinton Administration.

See this Associated Press report on MSNBC.com:

"The contracts are legal because the Bush administration repealed
regulations put in place by the Clinton administration that would have
allowed officials to bar new government work for companies convicted
or penalized during the previous three years...
...The Clinton administration tightened contracting rules shortly
before leaving office in 2001, ruling that repeated violations of
federal laws would make a company ineligible for new contracts.
Officials still would have been able to award contracts to punished
companies for overriding reasons such as national security.
The Bush administration suspended the new rules during its first three
months in office, and revoked them in December 2001. Business groups
had objected to the Clinton changes, arguing it was unfair to deny
contracts for reasons unrelated to how well a firm could do the work."
source: MSNBC.com
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4838246/

In December 2000, the Clinton Administration came up with what became
known as "blacklisting regulations" that would have disqualified some
law-breaking companies from government contracts.  See:

"Clinton contracting rules opposed by business"
http://www.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/12/20/clinton.labor.reut/

More detailed legal information at: 'Controversial "Blacklisting Rules" Issued' 
http://www.millerchevalier.com/db30/cgi-bin/pubs/GovConAlert%20Jan2001%20PDF.pdf


The Bush Administration opposed the new regulations and suspended them
upon taking office in early 2001.  The "blacklisting regulations" were
ultimately repealed on December 27, 2001.
See:
"FAR Council Revokes Controversial Blacklisting Regulations"
http://www.ffhsj.com/govtcon/ffgalert/gcarch/nb011201.htm


------------
search strategy:
"u.s. contracts" "companies convicted"
"blacklisting regulations" bush clinton

I hope this helps.

Thanks a lot, you did a great job!