Health Care

Agency scandal worse for lack of sunlight

May 25, 2018

Jonathan Small

A 2015 veto by Gov. Mary Fallin left some observers scratching their heads. After all, the bill had passed overwhelmingly: 69 to 19 in the House and 39 to 1 in the Senate. A public opinion poll showed similar bipartisan support for the bill among voters.

Maybe now we know what was really going on. House Bill 1748 would have required state agencies to disclose information about federal funding, conditions (mandates) for receipt of federal funds and associated consequences (positive or negative). In short, if it had become law, it might have prevented some of what the multicounty grand jury called the “reprehensible … inept practices and processes conducted by the Department of Health.”