21ct

by Terri Langford and Aman Batheja, The Texas Tribune FBI agents have interviewed employees at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission about its problematic contract with Austin firm 21CT, Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek told The Texas Tribune, marking the first … Read More

by Edgar Walters, As the state’s largest health agency reels from a scandal over how it awarded contracts to private vendors, lawmakers on Wednesday said they are slowing down on their ambitious — and controversial — plan to restructure it. A … Read More

AUSTIN – After months of downplaying his involvement in a no-bid state contract that collapsed in scandal last December, a former lobbyist for the company that got the deal is changing his story. The lobbyist, James Frinzi, acknowledged in a … Read More

The former lobbyist for Austin tech company 21CT — whose canceled Medicaid anti-fraud contract is shrouded by scandal and criminal investigations — testified last month that he was referred to work for the company by Jack Stick, the disgraced former … Read More

Members of the Texas Senate will likely propose significant additions to a bill introduced this week on agency contracting now pending before the Senate Finance Committee. Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, introduced Senate Bill 20 to address what she called … Read More

AUSTIN – The Texas Senate’s top budget writer on Monday proposed sharply limiting the use of the popular and controversial Cooperative Contracts purchasing program, signaling that a promised tightening of restrictions for outsourcing by state agencies may be even more … Read More

AUSTIN — The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has ruled that the state does not have to release public records related to a scandal over a $110 million no-bid Medicaid fraud detection contract because doing so would interfere … Read More

(Tribune News Service) — The popular state purchasing program that played a role in a $110 million no-bid contract now engulfed in scandal is likely to be revamped during this year’s legislative session, officials predicted this week. “We’re going to … Read More

Three years ago, when the Texas Health and Human Services Commission wanted software that investigators in its Office of Inspector General could use to track down Medicaid fraud, it asked the federal government to foot most of the $20 million bill. In its … Read More

Former Health and Human Services Commission chief counsel Jack Stick’s name was again prominent in the Houston Chronicle yesterday. Former employees coming forward Former employees of HHSC and the HHSC-Office of Inspector General where Stick worked earlier as deputy inspector general … Read More

AUSTIN – Leah Rayne just wants her job back.The former welfare recipient, who spent 20 years rising through the ranks at Texas’s health agency, found herself thrust into the news last summer after being fired for allegedly leaking confidential information … Read More

Over the past decade, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission has bungled several major contracts that totaled nearly $2 billion, and despite public blowups and calls for reform, problems persist in part because of a lack of accountability in … Read More

AUSTIN – Texas health officials last year used the firing of the state’s contractor for processing Medicaid claims to justify giving a no-bid “emergency” deal for more money to a company whose lobbying team included several former appointees of then-Gov. … Read More

Members of the state Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday criticized the Department of Information Resources, the tech contracting hub that was used to broker an unchecked, no-bid deal with 21CT, the target of state and federal investigations.The Health and Human … Read More

Attorneys for Austin tech firm 21CT, at the center of a no-bid state contract scandal, will depose the company’s former lobbyist about comments he made to the American-Statesman, which fueled concerns that 21CT had been inappropriately awarded a multimillion dollar-Medicaid … Read More

First the breakup, then the requisite division of property. Among the official belongings of Jack Stick, former general counsel for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, is one black leather executive chair — high-backed with a five-star wood capped … Read More

AUSTIN — Lawyers for the company at the center of Texas’s no-bid contract scandal will get the chance to question a lobbyist who they say caused the deal to unravel, following a Tuesday court ruling. Travis County District Judge Orlinda … Read More

How Texas outsourced crucial state services for two decades — and got smoked. This is part of an occasional series. Editor’s note: This story has been updated with comment from James Frinzi, former lobbyist for 21CT.  The Texas Health and … Read More

AUSTIN – For years, Texas state officials have boasted about a unique program they say enables the purchase of technology products at competitive prices without a costly and lengthy bidding process. But a Houston Chronicle investigation has found that the … Read More

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission, buffeted in recent months for its bungling of major contracts, purchases more technology products and services than any other state agency, with about $632 million in purchases since fiscal 2010. Combine that agency’s … Read More

As state and federal investigators continue to look into Austin tech firm 21CT’s no-bid contract with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, company executives in recent weeks have waged an aggressive public relations campaign, claiming the project was competitively … Read More

When a relatively small high-tech company lands a $20 million contract with a large state agency without having to compete for it, even though the company has no direct experience with the matter at hand, eyebrows raise and foreheads furrow, … Read More

AUSTIN – Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that the need for more oversight and transparency in state contracting is so great that it cannot wait for official action from lawmakers. In a letter to all state agency heads, Abbott ordered … Read More

Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday ordered state agency heads to enact stringent reforms to contracting practices by Sunday instead of waiting for new laws to pass the Legislature, one of his first acts as governor that frames his administration as … Read More

Weeks after calling for stronger rules to curb conflicts of interest in the wake of a no-bid contracting scandal at Texas’ massive health agency, state Sen. Jane Nelson filed a bill on Monday that would do just that. Nelson, a … Read More

For the most part, state agencies comply with existing contracting requirements, but several struggle with two basics: shopping for a vendor and monitoring that vendor’s performance, the Texas state auditor’s office said in a report on Tuesday. The report provided no new … Read More

Let’s forget for a moment about all the issues that divide us as Texans, from guns to abortion to Confederate flags on license plates. Let’s focus on something that nearly all of us can agree to hate – bad spending. … Read More

HOUSTON — The leader of the company at the center of Texas’s contracting scandal on Friday defended her firm and explained its recent controversial political donations but declined to provide specifics about the value it gave the state. CEO Irene … Read More

While a mushrooming scandal complete with state and federal investigations prompted two Texas state agencies to cancel contracts with Austin technology outfit 21CT last month, the state of Texas has not completely cut ties with the company. The Texas secretary … Read More

At the same time that Texas lawmakers are calling for more transparency at the state’s sprawling Health and Human Services Commission, officials there effectively have blocked the flow of public records that could provide answers to questions surrounding an unfolding … Read More

AUSTIN – Months before 21CT landed what is now the most controversial contract in Texas, it had to get approved to be eligible for no-bid state projects, and its effort did not start particularly well. Hindered by a lack of … Read More

AUSTIN — Hours after a Houston state lawmaker called on the company at the center of a no-bid contract scandal to disclose its investors, the CEO said in a blog post it firm has none. Seeking a subtle way to … Read More

The former lobbyist for the Austin tech company whose Medicaid anti-fraud contract is now the subject of criminal investigations is firing back at his former employer, accusing 21CT of trying to intimidate him into silence after he talked to the … Read More

AUSTIN – The widening fallout from a no-bid contract scandal claimed the job of a fourth top state official Friday when Health and Human Services Commission deputy chief of staff Casey Haney said he, too, would resign. Haney, a trusted … Read More

In the latest in a string of high-profile resignations at the Health and Human Services Commission, Casey Haney — who received $97,000 in college tuition against agency policy — quit Friday. Haney, who was deputy chief of staff for Executive … Read More

The assistant to Texas Health and Human Services Commission chief Kyle Janek who received a pre-paid MBA at taxpayer’s expense resigned on Friday. “It is clear that my continued employment is a distraction from the work of you and the 54,000 … Read More

Amid calls for Texas Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek to resign over a contracting scandal, sources close to Gov.-elect Greg Abbott said Thursday Abbott won’t make a decision about Janek’s future until after the completion of state … Read More

One month after she was put on paid administrative leave, Erica Stick has resigned as chief of staff at the Health and Human Services Commission. In December, Stick — the wife of embattled former commission chief counsel Jack Stick — … Read More

Today, Sen. John Whitmire sent a letter to HHSC Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek suggesting he resign immediately for “the best interest of the State of Texas.” “Enough is enough” The Austin American Statesman quoted Whitmire as telling them, “Enough is enough. I … Read More

Veteran state Sen. John Whitmire has called for the resignation of Kyle Janek, the top official at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, which is now at the center of state and federal investigations for its multimillion-dollar, no-bid deals … Read More