NC governor’s race: Federal government may be scrutinizing nonprofit run by Robinson’s wife
Welcome to the governor’s race edition of our Under the Dome politics newsletter. I’m Dawn Vaughan, The News & Observer’s Capitol bureau chief.
For the past several months, public records from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services have shown the ongoing scrutiny of the since-closed nonprofit run by Yolanda Hill, the wife of Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson.
Robinson is running for governor against Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein. Now new documents obtained by The News & Observer show the federal government may be scrutinizing Balanced Nutrition Inc., too.
Robinson previously worked for Balanced Nutrition, the nonprofit Hill closed in April. DHHS and Balanced Nutrition attorneys have exchanged letters for months about completing annual reports of the nonprofit, which served as the intermediary between childcare centers and government nutrition programs.
In July, the state ordered Balanced Nutrition to pay more than $132,000 for spending related to items without receipts or duplicate receipts, or undocumented spending. DHHS also told The N&O in July that some administrative labor costs, including Hill’s salary, were disallowed due to lack of supporting documentation.
A DHHS spokesperson said the agency had been asked by the Southeast Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Service “to provide documentation associated with the Notice of Serious Deficiency and the OIG (Office of Inspector General) complaint received related to Balanced Nutrition, Inc.”
The federal government has not issued subpoenas or requested interviews of N.C. DHHS about Balanced Nutrition. I asked DHHS for the documentation and was told that while the OIG complaint was protected from being provided as a public records, the responsive documents were not.
The new public records show DHHS sharing information from its compliance review, including delayed meetings between Hill and Balanced Nutrition’s lawyer and DHHS lawyers. It also includes the July 26 letter sent to Hill with the $132,000 owed, as The N&O previously reported; and a Notice of Serious Deficiency letter July 24 telling Balanced Nutrition about its proposal to disqualify the nonprofit, Hill and two staff from future participation in the Child and Adult Care Food Program, given that they were not complying with reviews.
Another document obtained by the N&O responds to allegations from an Office of Inspector General hotline complaint about “regulatory violations regarding training and recordkeeping.”
One allegation was about two centers under the sponsorship of Balanced Nutrition, but the centers weren’t named. DHHS responded, however, that the most recent compliance review had findings of a similar nature.
The same complaint “alleges that Balanced Nutrition, Inc. has family members on its Board of Directors that were not disclosed as employees at less than arm’s length.”
DHHS’ response was that in the 2023-24 fiscal year compliance review, “NCDHHS found that Balanced Nutrition, Inc. did not disclose less-than-arms-length transactions, including family members as employees, to the state agency.”
Robinson and Hill have previously characterized the scrutiny of Balanced Nutrition as being politically motivated because of his candidacy. Robinson’s campaign spokesperson said previously that Balanced Nutrition would appeal the state’s order to pay $132,000, and that DHHS’ findings were “politically motivated at the core.”
Robinson campaign spokesperson Mike Lonergan confirmed again to The N&O on Friday afternoon that Balanced Nutrition has initiated the appeal process, and pointed to their previous statements.
At an event for former President Donald Trump in August, Robinson said that Stein’s wife, Anna Stein, was “deeply embedded into the very edges of the whole sway over my wife’s business,” my colleagues at the Charlotte Observer reported. Anna Stein is a part-time legal consultant on chronic disease and injury policy at DHHS not involved, DHHS said. Josh Stein’s campaign called it “ridiculous and completely false.”
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