AUSTIN — Serious conflict of interest and oversight problems plagued a massive telecommunications deal between AT&T and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, state auditors said Tuesday, fanning the flames of a scandal over another large contract.
Unlike that agreement, which has forced two high-ranking officials to resign, the contract for telephone services appears to have been awarded to AT&T after a competitive bidding process.
But at least one state employee who evaluated the bids had previously worked for AT&T, according to the audit, and staffers assigned to monitor the contract failed to verify AT&T’s performance claims while allowing the project’s cost to balloon from an estimated $1 million to $105 million.
“The Commission did not adequately monitor and enforce the terms of the contract or adequately review payments,” auditors wrote in a 59-page report. “In addition, the Commission did not adequately estimate the contract’s cost during planning or ensure that employees adequately completed conflict of interest forms.”
via Audit finds problems with another massive state health contract – San Antonio Express-News.