Lawmakers Move To Hold Hobbs Accountable For Conflicts Of Interests
By Daniel Stefanski |
A powerful Arizona legislator is continuing to shine the light on the governor’s reported shenanigans with the state’s finances.
Earlier this week, Arizona State Senator T.J. Shope introduced SB 1612 “to hold the Executive Branch accountable and prevent any future conflicts of interest from arising within the state procurement process” by “remov[ing] an exemption allowing the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) to create their own procurement code.” The bill would also “prohibit an agency and state employees form destroying notes and documents created during a request for proposal (RFP) [and] require anyone responding to a state issued RFP or applying for a state administered grant to disclose any donations made to the Governor and campaign affiliates.”
Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen is a cosponsor of the legislation.
The need for this bill, according to Shope’s press release, became heightened after “an administrative law judge concluded AHCCCS improperly awarded contracts for healthcare services for 26,000 elderly and physically disabled individuals enrolled in the Arizona Long Term Care System…based on several factors, including violations of statutes and rules by AHCCCS, prejudice, a lack of transparency, contract awards based on best interests of the agency and not the state, an arbitrary and flawed ranking system of bid proposals, as well as deceptive criteria provided by AHCCS to health care companies on the evaluations of their bid proposals.”
In a statement accompanying the announcement of his bill, Senator Shope said, “The Hobbs Administration has a track record of engaging in questionable and unethical practices where favoritism is given, using taxpayer dollars, to those who are close to or have provided benefits to the Governor, her cabinet, and her allies. This legislation should help address these scandals and prevent future unfair advantages from being provided. Arizonans expect their elected officials to make decisions based on what’s best for the state and its citizens; not what’s best for their own personal agendas and political bank accounts.”
Last year, The Arizona Republic broke a story about the Arizona Department of Child Safety “approv[ing] what amounts to a nearly 60% increase in the rate that Sunshine Residential Homes Inc. charges to care for a child for a day.” The alleged action to approve the rate increase for the one organization was made while “DCS has denied pay increases to home operators and cut loose 16 providers during the contract renewal process.” The Republic also asserted that “no other standard group home provider was approved for any rate increase during Hobbs’ tenure.”
After the story ran in the Republic, Shope sent a letter on June 5 to both Attorney General Kris Mayes and Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, asking both officials to “examine the facts surrounding the Department of Child Safety’s alleged decision to approve a nearly 60% rate increase for Sunshine Residential Homes and determine if conduct by any of the involved parties warrants a criminal or civil investigation.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.