11 Alive (Atlanta): “Despite pledge to ‘unwind’ his business, Rick Jackson extends a state contract”

11 Alive (Atlanta): “Despite pledge to ‘unwind’ his business, Rick Jackson extends a state contract”

Despite pledging to end his business with the state of Georgia, new reporting from 11 Alive last night revealed that Slick Rick Jackson recently signed “a new contract worth millions” that would be active into 2027. Jackson – who has raked in a billion dollars of taxpayer-funded government health care contracts –  is reneging on a campaign promise that he would “unwind” his state contracts if elected governor.

Just last week, Jackson essentially lied to the people of Georgia when he said that he would end his government contracts, stating that “I don’t want even the appearance that there’s an ethics impropriety and all that.” However, the 11 Alive report shows that Jackson’s health care staffing company LocumTenens just three weeks ago extended its contract with the state through June 30, 2027 – well into the next Georgia governor’s first term. Jackson’s company has already raked in more than $17 million from this series of contracts.

The bombshell report raises real questions about what type of business Jackson continues to do with the state as he campaigns for governor – and what he is hiding from the public. This new contract is the latest example of how Jackson profits off of Georgia’s broken health care system. Just last week, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on how Jackson stands to profit from predatory loans he gave to a bankrupt hospital in Alabama.

11 Alive: Despite pledge to ‘unwind’ his business, Rick Jackson extends a state contract

• A company owned by GOP gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson has signed a new contract worth millions to provide health services to a state agency. This comes after the billionaire Jackson said he would unwind his state business if elected.

• Jackson’s company signed the contract renewal with the state less than a month ago, on July 22. It expires six months after the next governor is sworn into office.

• Much of Rick Jackson’s $3 billion fortune comes from healthcare services rooted in Jackson Healthcare. One of its subsidiaries, Locum Tenens, provides temporary healthcare workers to the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health.

• State records show the state agency has paid Locum Tenens $17,903,044 since 2022. One of the renewal documents shows Rick Jackson’s signature.

• At a campaign appearance just last week, Jackson renewed his pledge to separate his business from state business.

• “I don’t want even the appearance that there’s ethics impropriety and all that,” he said Wednesday when asked about his business with the state.  “I never will do business with the state of Georgia,” as governor, he said.

• Jackson’s comments came 21 days after his company renewed its business contract with the state of Georgia. State records show the Department of Behavioral Health extended that contract to June 30, 2027. The next governor’s term would begin six months earlier.

• “He says he’s going to dial back his business with the state, but my understanding is that just last week, he got another contract from the state,” former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms told reporters in Cobb County. “So don’t just say it. Do it. To thine own self be true. He should start with ethics and transparency in his own dealings.”

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