OKLAHOMA CITY — Gov. Kevin Stitt issued his first veto of the legislative session on Monday as lawmakers and the executive branch wrestle for control of $600 million in surplus cash at a state agency.
Stitt vetoed Senate Bill 1130, which would have blocked the Oklahoma Health Care Authority from spending $600 million in unused cash in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.
At the very least, Stitt wrote in his veto letter, decisions about how to spend the surplus funds should be delayed until 2024, after the nine-month Medicaid period in which the Health Care Authority is disenrolling from Medicaid more than 300,000 Oklahomans who were added to Medicaid during the COVID-19 pandemic but who no longer qualify for the government health benefits.
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The surplus funds at the Health Care Authority stem from enhanced Medicaid matching funds the federal government doled out to states during the pandemic.
“This bill would punish the Health Care Authority for its fiscal conservatism and wise stewardship of taxpayer dollars,” Stitt wrote in his veto letter. “That’s simply wrong.”
The governor also expressed concerns that lawmakers intend to use the $600 million to fund a portion of the Health Care Authority’s annual budget. The surplus funds should be used to finance strategic health care initiatives, not the routine functions of the Health Care Authority, Stitt added.
Lawmakers want to ensure that the state agency doesn’t spend the money without their input.
Legislative budget committee chairmen previously expressed frustrations that Health Care Authority leaders were unilaterally seeking ideas for ways to spend the money, according to NonDoc, an online news outlet. The Legislature should vote on how the money is spent, the chairmen said.
“The conversation really needs to start in this building,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Kevin Wallace, R-Wellston, said at the Capitol last week.
Wallace said he had seen a list of proposed ideas for how the executive branch, which includes the Health Care Authority, wanted to spend the surplus funds. That list included some projects that were unrelated to health care, he said on the House floor.
The Oklahoma Legislature can override the governor’s veto with two-thirds majorities in both chambers. The House and Senate both gave nearly unanimous approval to SB 1130.
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