Just a day after Governor Stitt and legislative leaders announced an agreement to increase the executive and legislative branches’ oversight of five major state agencies, the bills move forward in the Oklahoma Legislature.
Senate Bill 456 for the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) and Senate Bill 457 for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) were passed in the Senate on Wednesday. At the same time, the House passed House Bill 2479 for the Office of Juvenile Affairs (OJA), House Bill 2480 for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC) and House Bill 2483 for the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSS).
The measures give the governor the power to hire and fire agency heads with the approval of the Senate. It also gives the House Speaker and Senate President Pro Tempore, along with the governor at will appointment power for those agencies’ boards. The Legislature may also remove an agency head with a two-thirds vote from both chambers.
“This has been a shared goal between the House, the Senate and the Governor’s Office, and it is a significant restructuring of how our government operates,” said McCall. “We all recognize that Oklahomans expect much more accountability in their government, and this plan will ensure that agency directors and agency board appointees are held accountable to those who have been elected to hold them accountable. Under our current system, these directors and board appointments are not really accountable to anyone.”
“The century old system we operate now is broken. Agencies aren’t accountable to anyone other than a board of unelected bureaucrats. That is unacceptable and it must change. As the CEO of the executive branch, Oklahoma’s governor needs the ability to hire a team to enact his or her vision for the state. Agency directors will be directly accountable to the governor under our government accountability bills. That’s the best way to inject more accountability into state government and give the governor the ability to truly make improvements all across state government,” said Treat.
“I applaud the House and Senate for their continued dedication to government reform,” said Stitt. “We are one step closer to providing greater accountability and transparency for the people of Oklahoma. These bills empower elected officials to deliver stronger oversight, better services, and accountable leadership across the state’s five largest agencies, and by maintaining governing boards, we will continue to ensure transparency in all agency operations. I would like to thank Speaker McCall and President Pro Tempore Treat for championing these pieces of legislation that will undoubtedly help move our state forward.”
