Texas Stretched No-Bid Program to Help Austin Company
A powerful Texas Health and Human Services Commission general counsel who resigned last week stretched the boundaries of a little-known state purchasing program to ensure an Austin company would not face competition for a $110 million contract, according to interviews and a review of recent government purchases. The Houston Chronicle reported on the case Dec. 17.
GC Jack Stick used the program to award a massive Medicaid fraud detection contract to Austin technology firm 21CT, even though records show its no-bid process typically is used for small purchases, such as school printer cartridges, The Chronicle reported.
The Cooperative Contract program, which allows government agencies to bypass competitive bidding requirements by choosing from pre-approved IT products, has been used over the past five years for purchases averaging $3,493, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of the 2.5 million transactions over that time.
