ATLANTA — 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.
Almost from the moment it launched, users of the state-run cash assistance program complained.
"A physical card I could handle. But this virtual stuff?" asked Edward Robinson, a recipient, in a story on 11Alive.
He was among those who'd received images of virtual payment cards with Gov. Brian Kemp’s name on them, promising up to $350 for users of Medicaid, Snap, or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
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.
Kemp won re-election a little more than two months later.
A state document indicates the state has distributed some $826 million in federal COVID funding under the contract; 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.
DHS declined an on-the-record response for this story. A spokesman for Gov. Kemp also declined comment.