State lawmakers Wednesday said they do not have plans to investigate the state's process to award a $9 billion contract for a Medicaid home care program, and accusations that Gov. Kathy Hochul's administration rigged the bidding war should be left to the courts.

U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres, a Bronx Democrat, sent a letter Tuesday to state Inspector General Lucy Lang and the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, requesting a probe into how Gov. Kathy Hochul's administration handled the $9 billion contract.

This fall, Hochul announced Georgia-based company Public Partnerships LLC will oversee the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, which gives self-directed home care to the elderly and disabled and pays loved ones to be their caregivers.

Torres, who is eyeing a run for governor in two years, called for the investigation after a home care provider filed a lawsuit in state Supreme court last week, alleging Hochul's administration rigged the bidding process in a backroom deal earlier this year.

"If the governor insists that the bidding process was genuinely competitive, then she should release every single one of those bids and disclose the process by which each of those bids was evaluated," Torres said at a press conference in New York City.

The state Health Department handled the procurement process after state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli's office was exempted from the decision as part of the state budget deal.

"We have no insight into the selection of the vendor," according to a spokesperson from DiNapoli's office. "We would not choose investigative agencies to whom this was referred but we regularly work with and assist law enforcement in their investigations."

But state lawmakers said a separate investigation into the bidding process will not help with upcoming budget talks, or help New Yorkers avoid disruptions in care.

"I'm more focused on making sure that care is not compromised, patients have the aides that they need and to make sure that we're prudently using taxpayer dollars," Assemblyman John McDonald said Wednesday.

McDonald chairs the Assembly Governmental Operations Committee and is the brother of state Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald.

The assemblyman said there's no interest for the Legislature to separately investigate the bid process, adding he's confident the state Health Department took the proper steps in awarding the contract.

"The department knew that this was going to have a very high level of scrutiny," he told Spectrum News 1. "I'd be surprised if they deviated from any of the norms, but let's let the courts make that decision."

PPL has started to transition more than 250,000 New Yorkers who rely on the program from 700 fiscal intermediaries that have handled payroll with little oversight — leading to widespread fraud. The change is slated to take effect April 1.

The lawsuit alleges Hochul selected PPL before bids opened, violating state public contracting law. Carlos Martinez, the executive director of BRIDGES, a home care agency in Rockland County, filed an affidavit claiming a state disability official told him in April the state would later contract with PPL to take over the program. 

"There's a history of bid-rigging and of bribery and of really problematic conduct in the context of public bids," said Akiva Shapiro, the attorney who represents the home care provider behind the suit. "The state contracting laws are in place in order to root out that kind of potential corruption."

A spokesperson with Hochul's office said no state official knew this spring which company would be awarded the five-year, multi-billion-dollar contract. And that PPL was selected after the department reviewed and scored more than 100 proposals.

“It looks like Ritchie Torres is trying to derail much-needed reforms and protect the status quo of runaway spending and fraud that has hurt New York taxpayers and made CDPAP unsustainable for home care users who need it," a spokesperson with Hochul's office said in a statement. "That doesn't seem like a great use of time, and his letter is full of false claims anyway – so we'll stay focused on delivering a stronger and more effective CDPAP as part of the transition that will take effect by April 2025.”

Senate Health Committee chair Gustavo Rivera continues to stand against reducing 700 fiscal intermediaries under CDPAP to a single company. He carries a bill to undo the transition and replace it with a licensing process to increase oversight of FIs who handle payroll.

But the senator agrees an investigation won't help New Yorkers relying on the home care program.

"Unfortunately, an investigation into the PPL contract will not solve the very real issues that hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers may be facing in a matter of months when their care is upended, nor will it help the workers who are employed through the program and could lose their jobs," Rivera said in a statement. "That's why I have been continuously raising my concerns since it was announced that the state would eliminate all current fiscal intermediaries and replace them with a single entity. ... My bill would allow ample time to ensure transparency, accountability and fiscal responsibility for New Yorkers who want to choose their caretakers through CDPAP."

Several lawmakers including Senate Governmental Operations Committee chair James Skoufis did not return a request for comment. Assembly Health Committee chair Amy Paulin declined to comment. 

A spokesperson with the state Inspector General's Office confirmed the office received Congressman Torres' letter, and says the office conducts thorough, independent and comprehensive investigations into every complaint that falls under its jurisdiction. But the inspector general does not comment on the status of investigations unless there is a formal finding of wrongdoing that is released to the public.