Oklahoma’s Alcoholic Beverage and Laws Enforcement Commission may become “more aggressive” over funds diverted from the agency by the federal government if the money is not reimbursed, according to a report from eCapitol.
Executive Director Keith Burt told members of the commission at its meeting September 19 that ABLE had not been reimbursed according to its agreement with the federal government. Last month commissioners were told approximately $61,000 intended for the agency were diverted to satisfy another Oklahoma state agency’s debt.
Burt said the funds, siphoned off into the Taxpayer Offset Program (TOP) to pay the federal government for a shortfall related to erroneous billing by the state’s Medicare program—“ are still not recovered from the first quarter of the year."
Legal counsel Margaret Love told the commission that that the money is actually owed by Global Health, an entity responsible for the shortfall, and that the money taken from ABLE wasn’t mislaid taxes, for which the TOP program was intended. Love said she was expecting a report from the Food and Drug Administration to the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, which handles Global Health for the state.
"But it's to the point that if in fact there is no report by Monday… then I think we need to collectively be more aggressive in trying to stress the fact these were not federal funds diverted but private funds through the tobacco industry that funded your contract,” Love said. “So hopefully by next month there will be a reimbursement, if not then we will be seeking authorization to take whatever actions you deem appropriate."
eCapitol reporter Christie Southern also reports that the agency is struggling to replace cuts made at the state level last year.
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