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NEW 11 Alive Report: “State Audit Says Georgia Governor Administration Sidestepped a Law” with Billion-Dollar Contract
March 29, 2024
Kemp Appeared in Photo with CEO in Connecticut; Company received $15.5 million for the contract
A shocking new report from 11 Alive uncovered a state audit showing that Brian Kemp’s Administration “sidestepped the law” when it rushed to approve a billion-dollar contract before the 2022 election.
“According to a report released by the state Department of Audits, Kemp’s administration solicited contracts from four hand-picked vendors to run the program – even though the report said state law required the state to publish a request for proposals on its website.”
Breaking the law and the procurement process allowed the Kemp Administration to send debit cards to Georgians mere weeks before voting started in the 2022 general election.
DHS confirmed the audit’s conclusion that the procurement process broke the law.
“Brian Kemp broke the law to win an election. It’s as simple as that,” said DPG Executive Director Tolulope Kevin Olasanoye. “The audit says they broke the law. DHS confirms they broke the law. The next logical step is to open an investigation to determine what laws were broken and by whom so we can hold those people accountable and take the proper steps to ensure that this doesn’t happen again, under Brian Kemp or any other governor.”
Read the story from 11 Alive below:
11 Alive: State audit says Georgia governor administration sidestepped a law when pandemic assistance program launched
Doug Richards; 3/27/2024
- A state audit says the Department of Human Services skirted state law when it quickly launched a cash assistance program less than two years ago. The program delivered nearly a billion dollars worth of federal money to needy Georgians but was widely criticized by folks who said it was difficult or impossible to use.
- Governor Kemp announced the cash assistance program alongside his wife, Marty, on a YouTube video in August 2022. Many Georgia schools were reopening after the pandemic, yet federal stimulus money was still being sent to states.
- According to a report released by the state Department of Audits, Kemp’s administration solicited contracts from four hand-picked vendors to run the program – even though the report said state law required the state to publish a request for proposals on its website.
- Within a week, the state gave the billion-dollar contract to a company called Rellevate, which posted a “thank you” photo last year.
- “If we don’t have competitive bidding, what we have is contracts given to political favorites and others at much greater expense to the taxpayer,” said Richard Painter, who was an attorney in the George W. Bush White House, who specialized in ethics.
- The state audit says the state Department of Human Services sidestepped a law requiring the solicitation of bids when it granted the contract. The audit identified it as a “particularly large purchase that did not comply” with state rules, allowing “quicker delivery of funds to beneficiaries…”
- Although the pandemic health emergency was tapering off in August 2022, Kemp’s re-election campaign was just ramping up as he faced a rematch with Democrat Stacey Abrams. Kemp’s name appeared on the card images distributed to recipients.
- “Politicians, of course, want to hand out the money before the election. So that may have been the true nature of the emergency,” Painter told 11Alive.
- Rellevate received about $15.5 million to administer the program. The program is ongoing.
- State auditors who called out the lack of competitive bidding for the program included a response from DHS: The auditors said DHS did not dispute the audit’s findings.
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