Politics

Nov. 2, 2006, 4:16PM

Bell seeks probe of health and human services chief

By LIZ AUSTIN PETERSONAssociated Press
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AUSTIN — Democratic governor candidate Chris Bell asked the Texas Ethics Commission today to investigate whether the state's health and human services chief broke the law by sitting on the board of a nonprofit organization and failing to disclose it on his personal financial statements.

Albert Hawkins, the executive commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, is a trustee for the Texas Health Institute. The nonpartisan organization is a subsidiary of the Texas Hospital Association, a trade group that represents about 85 percent of the state's hospitals and health care systems.

The institute has received more than $2 million in state contracts, mainly to help implement changes to mental health services. Gov. Rick Perry, who appointed Hawkins to his state post, has been a major advocate of such changes.

Bell, who hopes to unseat Perry in Tuesday's election, said Hawkins' involvement with a contractor violates a Texas law that prohibits state employees from participating in activities that could impair their ability to act independently. He said Hawkins also broke the law by failing to list the position on forms he submitted to the ethics commission.

Hawkins was not immediately available to comment but issued a statement through HHSC spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman saying he was the third state health commissioner to hold the same unpaid, honorary position. He filed an amended personal financial statement on Thursday.

He also released a letter he wrote to the institute's president on Oct. 27 in which he emphasized that he has not attended board meetings or participated in board actions.

"This is clearly someone trying to take an honorary position held by three health and human services commissioners and turn it into something it's not," Goodman said in the statement.

Filing a complaint starts a process that may include a preliminary review as well as informal or formal hearings. The commission could dismiss the complaint or impose a civil penalty.

Bell has been trying win votes by painting Perry and his administration as corrupt.

Independents Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman and Libertarian James Werner
also are running for governor.

Perry spokesman Robert Black said Bell should stick to talking about his own record and proposals.

"Last time I checked, Albert Hawkins wasn't running for governor," Black said.

Strayhorn spokesman Mark Sanders declined to comment. Friedman's spokeswoman didn't immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.

The Texas Hospital Association lobbies for legislation that will benefit the state's hospitals and health care systems. The association's political action committee donated $10,000 to Perry's campaign in September, ethics commission documents show.

Bell filed the complaint that led the House Ethics Committee to admonish then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay for ethics violations. It was one of a string of problems for the once-powerful Republican that eventually led to DeLay's resignation from Congress.


http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/politics/4306583.html