Attorney David Slane is suing Gov. Mary Fallin over $140 million in unspent state funds he contends should go to state agencies. Slane filed the lawsuit Tuesday with the Oklahoma Supreme Court on behalf of six clients who receive state services through the Department of Human Services.
The state ended up with the multimillion-dollar surplus after lawmakers ordered mid-year cuts to agency budgets amid dwindling tax collections. It turned out those cuts were deeper than necessary. Slane said that’s unconstitutional, according to eCapitol’s Shawn Ashley:
"The law only allows them to cut what is needed for the shortfall. They cut beyond that," he said. Two cuts totaling 7.0 percent were implemented during FY2016. A final reconciliation of FY2016 revenue released July 27 showed the cuts were too deep and the necessary reduction level was 4.4 percent or $272 million, which results in $140.8 million that was cut now becoming available for allocation or appropriation during the special session. "We stand by the cut level we approved because instead of cutting agencies yet again, which would have happened if the cut level was too small, the state gets the chance to address a major priority in teacher pay,"[Secretary of Finance Preston] Doerflinger said in a press release. In asking the court to assume original jurisdiction in the case, Slane wrote, "Inaction regarding the cut beyond the appropriate ratio will establish a precedent which would allow the Executive Branch to circumvent the law as mandated through the annual appropriations process."
Fallin and Doerflinger have suggested a special legislative session to allocate the unspent money for teacher pay raises.
Fallin spokesman Michael McNutt declined to comment on the lawsuit to the Associated Press. He says talks with legislative leaders about a special session are ongoing, Sean Murphy reports:
Senate President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman said Tuesday he has yet to see a specific teacher pay plan and that the general consensus among most Republicans in the Senate is that the money should be reallocated to cash-strapped agencies. Without a special session, the money would be proportionally distributed to all state agencies that receive general revenue allocations. Among the larger agencies, public schools would receive an additional $40 million, while the Health Care Authority would get about $23 million, Department of Human Services would get $16 million, and the Department of Corrections would get about $10 million.
Longtime Del City foster parent Carrol Stanley and her husband are the first two plaintiffs in the petition. During Tuesday’s news conference in Oklahoma City, she said her current foster daughter doesn’t get as much money from DHS as she used to, according to The Oklahoman’s Nolan Clay:
“In this lawsuit, I'm just looking for the agencies to come back in and help us with our children and do what's right,” Carrol Stanley said. “The frustration, it's so great. ... These kids are human beings, too. They forget that they're human beings, too. ... I don't think anybody listens anymore.” Another plaintiff, Kimberly Gabriel, of Chickasha, volunteered to be the court-appointed guardian to a Lawton man who is blind and has autism. She said she started in February, and in May, he was diagnosed with cancer. Because of the budget cuts, DHS did not renew the contract this fiscal year with the outside agency “that I'm supposed to call for help when I don't know what to do,” she said. When she calls DHS directly now for guidance, “you can't get a real person on the phone,” she said. It takes several days for someone to call back, she said. “All we're asking is that the money that you took from the budgets, put it back where you took it from,” Gabriel said.
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