By Emma Murphy, Oklahoma Voice
OKLAHOMA CITY — An emergency one-time appropriation of $27.4 million is needed for the Oklahoma mental health department to make it through the current fiscal year and pay its employees, according to an official request made public Tuesday.
The amount the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services needs to stay afloat is slightly more than four times what agency leaders had initially told lawmakers they’d need to address financial shortfalls. After the agency reported it wouldn’t be able to make payroll beginning May 21, the request grew to $23 million from the initial $6.2 million.
The state’s chief financial officer and a specially appointed financial expert arrived at the $27.4 million figure after reviewing the budget, and that figure will be the agency’s official request.
Sen. Chuck Hall, R-Perry, Senate appropriations chair, said this request should cover the expenditures listed in the report, which includes nearly $3.4 million in payroll, $16 million in promised outcome-based payments for providers, and a handful of other line items.
The agency is projected to have over $116.6 million in cash and revenue for the rest of the fiscal year, but will expend about $144 million, according to the request shared with Oklahoma Voice. Some of these expenditures are “directed spending” mandated by the Legislature and require money to be sent to certain programs and funds, like one for children in crisis.
Rep. John Kane, R-Bartlesville, vice chair of the House budget committee, said he has “no doubt” the Legislature will provide this emergency budget ask because “nobody wants to not pay our people.” House leaders have previously said the priority is paying state employees.
Aaron Morris, CFO for the state of Oklahoma, on Monday told lawmakers the request would not include funds for some payments to providers, who are seeking reimbursement by the state agency for services provided to uninsured populations. Despite reports from some providers of needing over $84 million in reimbursements this budget year, the request does not have a line item for these payments.
“I think it’s an emergency. We’re gonna have to fund it for sure and get them on track,” Kane said. “And hopefully next year, when we start talking about a budget, we really are comfortable with where we are, and I think we can do it, no doubt.”
He said the agency has not yet made an updated request for the upcoming budget year, which begins July 1.
“And I don’t know where we’ll be on this year’s budget. I think we’re going to be a little bit of a shot in the dark,” Kane said. “And then I suspect that the governor will be monitoring that pretty closely, since it is an executive function at that point, and then see how they go through the year. That might be something we’re talking about in February, right when we get back.”
The Legislature has until the last Friday in May to approve a budget.
The appropriation will have to come through a joint committee on appropriations and budget, which Kane said is normally a five day process.
