Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday ordered that existing state vendor contracts not already spent must be canceled and all state departments reduce their vendor contracts by at least 15 percent next year.

The action, which takes effect immediately, is retroactive to March 1 for vendor contracts, which have been entered into but not spent.

Projects funded by the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are excluded, as are projects which are funded by bonds,

BOSTON -- Former Massachusetts House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi and three associates were indicted for allegedly helping a software firm win more than $20 million in state contracts and concealing the money they received from the company.

According to a 33-page indictment handed up by a federal grand jury here, software company Cognos Corp. allegedly paid an associate of Mr. DiMasi $5,000 a month from March 2005 to early 2007. A percentage of those monthly payments went to Mr.