A Closer Look at State Employees who Leave to Work for Vendors to the State

North Carolina legislators are reviewing the practice of state employees leaving government to work for vendors who work for the state.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reports that the possibility of restricting the practice comes after an audit of the Medicaid claims system found a senior program manager for the state had gone to work for a vendor.

In that particular case, State Auditor Beth Wood said Paul Guthery, a senior program manager at the state Department of Health and Human Services, had left his state job, and gone to work for Computer Sciences Corporation, which does a substantial amount of business with the state.

Wood said the example of the employee for the Department of Health and Human Services going to work for a computer company could occur at any state agency.

State legislators and some state employees must wait six months after they leave office or jobs before they can lobby. But there is no waiting period to prevent state workers from immediately going to work for a vendor.

WFDD's Steve Biddle contributed to this article