When the Department of Human Services implemented the inadequate appropriations mandated by the Legislature, Speaker Charles McCall and Majority Leader Mike Sanders yelped. Cuts to programs to keep the elderly and disabled out of nursing homes were a “political stunt,” Sanders said. DHS needs to be audited, McCall said. Why didn’t they cut funding to the 211 service hotline instead, Sanders said.

House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Leslie Osborn and two of her subcommittee chairmen defended DHS, and McCall fired Osborn from her post. That’s the political part of the story.

But here’s the part that’s funny and sad at the same time. As Graham reported, Sanders’ thought about cutting funding to the 211 program was such a good idea that DHS did it ... a year ago.

The House majority leader was so uninformed about the DHS budget that he was slamming, he didn’t even know that the 211 program was defunded in the 2017 fiscal year, the last time the Legislature’s appropriations to the agency were grossly inadequate.

211 is a hotline that connects people to organizations providing services such as health resources, food pantries, rental help, child care, financial programs, literacy and job programs, and housing assistance. It’s a valuable resource that saves lives. It also saves money for the state by dealing with little problems before they become big ones, and the Community Service Council has managed to hold the program together in the Tulsa area with charitable donations, despite losing $339,000 in state funding, 41 percent of program’s budget.

Any other bright ideas, Rep. Sanders?

We’ve got one: Why don’t you try to learn a little bit about the state agencies you criticize before you start shooting out press releases. Maybe if you knew something about the situation, you wouldn’t vote for those inadequate appropriations in the first place.