TRANSCRIPT
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Dick Pryor: This is Capitol Insider- taking you inside politics, policy and government in Oklahoma. I'm Dick Pryor with Quorum Call publisher Shawn Ashley. The Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services is under scrutiny as Governor Kevin Stitt and legislative leaders - the Speaker of the House and Senate President Pro Tem - have called for an audit of the department. They're concerned about the department's budget deficit. Shawn, how did this come to their attention?
Shawn Ashley: According to a letter to Governor Stitt from Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Commissioner Allie Friesen, it was a whistleblower who brought the issue to her attention in late February. Friesen indicates she made changes to the leadership of the department in December, including replacing its chief financial officer. Friesen wrote in that letter that she appointed an interim CFO, who began at her direction a review of the agency's finances. Friesen told the governor, “On February 21st, a staff member of the finance department brought forth concerns that they now felt authorized to disclose This disclosure triggered an investigation into the specific concerns of the whistleblower,” she wrote. And a few days later, on February 26th, the results of the investigation were preliminarily confirmed and the department began to escalate these findings to key executive and legislative stakeholders.
Dick Pryor: How big is the shortfall?
Shawn Ashley: Officials aren’t totally sure yet. That's why House Speaker Kyle Hilbert and Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton asked the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency to examine the mental health department's finances as well. They do know the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services owes the Oklahoma Health Care Authority around $60 million. That's because the Health Care Authority is the state's Medicaid agency and pays providers on behalf of the mental health department. The department then reimburses the Health Care Authority for those payments. The problem seems to be the mental health department was not receiving enough money each year to reimburse the health care authority fully for those Medicaid mental health services. House Speaker Kyle Hilbert called that a structural deficit, and they just don't know how big that number is.
Dick Pryor: Thursday was the final day for bills to pass out of legislative committees, so there was a flurry of activity.
Shawn Ashley: There certainly was. Listeners will recall more than 3,000 bills and joint resolutions were filed for consideration by the January 16th deadline. Roughly 2,000 of those did not make it past Thursday's deadline, leaving lawmakers with about a thousand bills to continue to consider.
Dick Pryor: News has been coming fast and furiously out of the Trump administration and the federal DOGE concerning, among other things, possible cuts at NOAA, Tinker Air Force Base, Social Security, the Veterans Administration, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and numerous federal grants. Are legislators and the governor doing anything to prepare for the fallout?
Shawn Ashley: Yes, but the question they all seem to have is what do they need to be doing? The biggest issue is they don't know anything more than you, me and the rest of the general public. So, they're talking to our federal congressional delegation trying to get information. They have subcommittee chairs working with state agencies to get information from the federal agencies that they work with. And everyone is waiting for the next news story, web posting, tweet, or press conference.
Dick Pryor: Are elected officials here worried about where these cuts are heading and what they will do to the state?
Shawn Ashley: They are. Legislative leaders from both parties are very concerned about a potential reduction of the federal government's Medicaid match, for example, If it drops as much as has been reported, it could cost Oklahoma $500 million to $700 million. Governor Stitt on behalf of the National Governors Association, where he serves as vice chair, urged federal officials on Thursday to make sure states are at the table as they discuss some of these big changes, particularly reductions in Medicaid funding.
Dick Pryor: What's coming up in the week ahead?
Shawn Ashley: Legislators will be on the floor of their chambers, taking up the bills that made it out of committee. They have until March 27th to consider those measures.
Dick Pryor: Thank you, Shawn.
Shawn Ashley: You're very welcome.
Dick Pryor: For more information, go to quorumcall.online and find audio and transcripts at kgou.org. Until next time, with Shawn Ashley, I'm Dick Pryor.
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