September 23, 2016      5:27 PM
House budget chair urges greater use of outside contract reviews
LBB: “… we have a responsibility to do our best to protect the treasury, to ensure the proper use of taxpayer dollars, and also to ensure your directives, as legislators, are being carried out by state agencies.”
The
chair of the Texas House budget-writing committee is urging agencies to take
advantage of the contract review functions triggered by the failure of the Attorney
General’s T2 contract.
Of
late, two scenarios have emerged with larger state contracts plagued with
problems: The self-dealing scandals such as the Health and Human Services’
21CT
contract; or, more often, problematic
delivery of a contract such as the AG’s child support overhaul, which is
unlikely to go live before the end of 2017.
Both House
Appropriations and Senate Finance sat down with the
agencies charged with deploying the changes under Senate Bill 20. And while
Chairman Rep. John Otto, R-Dayton, will
soon by ceding his chair because he is retiring, he remained emphatic about
improving contracting processes.
By Kimberly Reeves
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