However, bills that were filed in response to the “largest public corruption scandal” in state history have failed to progress through the legislative process. Senator Angela Turner Ford (D-West Point) authored a bill that required a legislative oversight panel to examine and report on how effective state agencies’ contacts with non-profits. This includes the agreement Human Services made with the Mississippi Community Education Center. The center was implicated in the public corruption scandal. Jarvis Dortch (D-Jackson), who was vocal in his criticism of Davis’ policies before the public corruption scandal emerged, has filed numerous bills dealing with this issue. He has proposed several bills, including TANF, which are often called welfare funds. They are intended to help needy families, particularly children. DHS contracted with the non-profit to provide assistance for the poor. The charge says that DHS officials stole more than $4million of welfare money and that the department doesn’t have enough to show for the millions of dollars it gave to subgrantees, while making limited payments to the poor. Dortch stated that none of these bills had been brought up to the committee. “We haven’t had any hearings in Public Health, or any other committee. This is the greatest scandal in the history the state has ever seen. You would expect us to do more to ensure that safeguards are in place. The Legislature appears to be moving in a different direction, passing a bill (to audit (the taxes), of poor people”. Dortch was referring a bill that was sent to the governor to allow Auditor ShadWhite access to tax returns for people on public assistance such as Medicaid. John Polk, R.Hattiesburg is the chairman of the Senate’s Accountability Efficiency and Transparency committee. He said that he believes the laws exist to combat public corruption but admitted that sometimes people will break the law. He said, “Just as sometimes people are going rob banks.” Polk stated that he was open to considering proposals to increase security. Tuesday is the deadline to get bills passed out of the original chamber’s committee. Former chair of the House Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency Committee, Jerry Turner, R.-Baldwyn, stated that a state law to mandate DHS to solicit competitive bids for services to the poor cannot be passed because federal funds are being used. Turner stated, “I would support it if we were able to do it.” Auditor White requested funds from the Legislature for a forensic audit to DHS. There are questions about how $65 million was spent. The audit could run to as high as $2 million, according to some estimates. Logan Reeves, spokesperson for the Auditor, stated that this audit would go beyond the usual sampling and examinations of DHS controls that the auditor performs each year. “No one has yet formally committed to funding that forensic audit, but the auditor would issue an RFP (request-for-proposals) and a committee would score and select proposals.” Lt. Governor. Delbert Hosemann is the Senate’s president, but he seems hesitant about spending state funds on the audit. Hosemann stated that he believes there is an investigation underway by the state auditor. He said that we should wait for him to finish before spending money on other things. Hosemann stated that “he seems to be very competent, very aggressive in his investigation…I have many people in need of funds from teachers to (state employees) employees.” Hosemann also said that he was informed by U.S. Attorneys for the Northern and Southern Districts that there would be Department of Justice members in the area. It will begin March 1, I believe.” Hosemann stated that this means that both federal and state officials will be reviewing the expenditures of the funds. The Southern District office of U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst sent an email to confirm that there was an investigation. However, White confirmed via social media that he had briefed federal authorities on the matter. Reeves, the Auditor spokesperson, stated that White had been informed by the Office of the Inspector General about the possibility of a federal forensic auditor. He also said that the wait list for an OIG forensic audit would take at least a year and that funding would still have to be obtained. This means that it is not possible to get to the bottom of all the mispending within the next one-to two years.” ”
He was also informed that there is a wait list of at least one year for an OIG forensic auditor and that funding would still need to be obtained for that audit. This would make it difficult for him to get to the bottom on all the misspends within the next one or two years.”