Gov. Kevin Stitt is requesting a special audit of the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS).
He submitted the request to the Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector’s Office Wednesday afternoon. In it, he asks the office to look into the agency’s spending over the last five years.
Stitt said he asked for the audit in response to “troubling facts brought to light by Commissioner Allie Friesen.”
Friesen, who heads the ODMHSAS, said her staff has uncovered concerns about how taxpayer money is being used for the state Medicaid program.
“We have discovered that for at least the past five years the Department has a structural budget deficiency that I believe was intentionally created by the previous administration,” Friesen wrote in a letter to Stitt.
Friesen didn’t specify how much money she believes is being misused.
Friesen started her role at the ODMHSAS last January after being tapped by Stitt. Since then, she has enacted several personnel changes at the department, including replacing the former chief financial officer who resigned December.
“As I’ve spent the last year pulling back the layers, it’s clear that there are systemic issues at this agency that need to be addressed,” Friesen said.
Following Stitt’s announcement, House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, and Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, released a joint statement adding another inspection service into the mix.
They tasked the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency (LOFT) with looking into the department’s spending. LOFT is a special commission set up by the legislators to investigate public spending.
“LOFT can provide us the quick answers we need to do our constitutional duties,” the press release reads.
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