Ellen Daley

The state’s chief procurement officer is defending her action and a Republican lawmaker is calling on Gov. Bruce Rauner to produce proof of his claim that the Democratic state House speaker influenced the voiding of a state no-bid consulting contract.

State Rep. David McSweeney  (R- Barrington Hills) said the Republican governor needs to produce evidence that House Speaker Michael Madigan used his clout to get the state’s chief procurement officer to void a $12.5 million contract with McKinsey & Co. in connection with oversight of Medicaid services.

“(Rauner) accused the CPO of impropriety, that she was influenced by the Speaker,” McSweeney said during a state hearing last week. “That is a serious charge and we’ve seen absolutely no proof of that.”

The state representative said that Rauner needs to produce evidence of tampering from Madigan or issue an apology to Ellen Daley, the state’s chief procurement officer.

Felicia Norwood, director of the state’s Department of Healthcare and Family Services, said during the hearing that she had no comment on McSweeney’s call for proof.

She also said she had no comment when McSweeney asked if she thought Daley was an honest person and if she thought the CPO was improperly influenced to void the McKinsey contract.

Rauner said last week that he felt that Madigan had “heavy influence” over Daley’s action.

Daley, who was appointed to the post by the independent Executive Ethics Commission, put the nix on the no-bid contract last week, saying that it should have been bid out.

The chief procurement officer said that her action was not politically connected, but taken because the McKinsey contract was not exempt from the Illinois Procurement Code.

“As an employee of the Executive Ethics Commission, I am precluded from making campaign contributions to political parties and to candidates seeking public office,” Daley told Chronicle Media via email. “In discharging my duties as an independent officer to enforce the state’s procurement laws, I am neither influenced nor biased by politics. I neither seek nor owe political favor to Gov. Rauner, Speaker Madigan or any other politician.

“My actions related to the voidance of a recent McKinsey contract resulted solely from my determination that the McKinsey contract was for services not exempt from the code.”

While a Daley being linked to Madigan would be nothing new, it was not Democratic clout that got Ellen Daley her post. The Republican governor’s own chief legal counsel, Jason Barclay, wrote Chad Fornoff, executive director of the Executive Ethics Commission, recommending that Daley be put in the position.

Barclay put forth “Ellen Daily (sic)” and two other individuals for open procurement office spots in 2015.

“We can give these individuals high marks and recommendations,” Barclay wrote.

Norwood said at Thursday’s hearing that the McKinsey contract was exempt from the procurement process, but that managed care organizations competitively bid to be part of the state’s Medicaid program.

“I think for the first time we got a deal for the taxpayers,” Norwood said at Thursday’s hearing of the state House Human Services Committee.

Norwood said that the competitive bidding by MCOs to be state Medicaid service providers was expected to save the state $200 million.

McSweeney noted that the state’s Medicaid program is under a number of consent decrees and asked how important it is for Healthcare and Family Services to get out from under the decrees.

“We spend most of our time trying to make sure we are in compliance with the decrees,” Norwood said. “If you are in compliance, you should get to a point that a consent decree is no longer needed.”

Longtime state Rep. Patti Bellock (R-Hinsdale) said that the Rauner administration has done a good job in addressing the court orders.

“This administration has done more about consent decrees than the last administration,” Bellock said. “This is the first time in my 18 years that I’ve seen (health agency) silos work together.”

— State procurement officer defends axing consulting contract .  —-