58th Legislative Session Begins With State Of The State, Anti-Abortion Bills & Watchdog Report
The first full work week of the 58th Legislature began with Gov. Kevin Stitt delivering his third State of the State address in the House Chamber.
The week ended with accusations from a watchdog organization, saying Stitt s team misspent federal COVID-19 relief funds.
In his 38-minute speech, Stitt laid out what he calls the people s agenda” and said reopening businesses earlier than in other parts of the country helped save the state’s economy.
“As COVID-19 rages in Oklahoma, January was our worst month yet,” House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman, said. “No state wishes that they would have responded to this pandemic the way that Oklahoma has.”
Whitney Bryen / Oklahoma Watch
The huge influx of federal money that came into Oklahoma last year amid the coronavirus pandemic was spent quickly on public health, small business grants and other needs, but a large chunk of it was spent on state agency wishlists and technology upgrades that were only tangentially connected to the pandemic.
That’s among the conclusions of a draft report by the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency released Wednesday. The report also criticized the way many projects were approved, saying Gov. Kevin Stitt’s CARES FORWARD team “deployed a highly subjective process for approving funding.”
“While LOFT does not presume to judge the merits of individual projects, the lack of explanation around decision-making does raise questions as to how projects were or were not deemed essential to Oklahoma’s recovery,” the report said.
The huge influx of federal money that came into Oklahoma last year amid the coronavirus pandemic was spent quickly on public health, small business grants and
Report: Oklahoma s Spending of $1 2B In Federal Relief Lacked Structure And Clarity newson6.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from newson6.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
New state watchdog criticizes Oklahoma CARES Act spending Follow Us
Question of the Day FILE - In this Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021 file photo, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt talks with the media in Oklahoma City. A new legislative watchdog agency has delivered a scathing report on how Stitt’s administration spent millions of dollars of . more > By SEAN MURPHY - Associated Press - Thursday, February 4, 2021
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A legislative watchdog has delivered a scathing report on how Gov. Kevin Stitt’s administration spent millions of dollars of federal coronavirus relief on things barely connected to the pandemic, such as technology upgrades for state agencies and a tourism ad campaign.