Jun
16
Stimulus follow-up #1
Filed Under Uncategorized
In yesterday’s blog, I talked about how the transparency for stimulus funds is not all that it’s cracked up to be. On Monday, I e-mailed each of the 12 agencies listed as having received stimulus funds as of April 30th asking each of them the same three questions:
- 1. What was the money spent on?
- 2. Has any additional money been received since April 30th for use in the current fiscal year?
- 3. If so, what was it spent on?
The responses received so far are copied and pasted below from the actual e-mails with the exception of the Office of Juvenile Affairs which called me and I wrote down the important facts.
Office of Juvenile Affairs
$204K has not been spent yet. Will be used as matching funds needed to get non-stimulus dollars for FMAP (Federal Medical Assistance Percentage) which OJA uses as reimbursement for community homes. Is in line for more funds which will also be put back into the system.
Physician Manpower Training Commission
To the original $76,032 has been added $185,298. So far, no funds have been spent. All stimulus dollars will be spent in our MD/DO Family Practice Residency Cost Sharing program. These are physicians in training who see Medicare and Medicaid patients.
J.D. McCarty Center
Money has not been spent yet. Additional funds have come in (not specified). All the money will be spent next fiscal year. The funds will be used to provide patient services during the next fiscal year.
OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine
As of April 30, OSU Center for Health Sciences had received $513,872 in stimulus funds through the Oklahoma Health Care Authority; and an additional $113,885 through June 2. The OHCA stimulus funds reimburse OSU-CHS for a portion of the money it had already paid into the Graduate Medical Education state match program. OSU-CHS has been directed to hold the money in deposit until further guidance is provided regarding the appropriate uses for the funds.
In addition to the four agencies providing direct answers, representatives from four more - Dept. of Education, Dept. of Health, Health Care Authority and Dept. of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services - will look into the matter and get back to me. That leaves four others - Dept. of Corrections, Oklahoma Employment Security Commission, University Hospitals Authority and Department of Human Services - that have yet to give any response.
One interesting point in all of this is that for the four that have given information, none of the money has been spent yet. Now this could very well be the wisest use of the money. However, it seems to go counter to the idea of a stimulus package. The American people were told that the money was needed to provide a boost to the economy and either create or maintain jobs. Of the nearly $1-million given to the four agencies above, I’m not seeing any direct stimulus effect right now.
Also, it’s interesting to note that two of the agencies have received additional stimulus funds, but that is not reflected in the accountability section of the state’s recovery web page which says it was last updated on June 8th. That could also mean that may additional state agencies have received stimulus funds since April 30th, but the public doesn’t know about it. We here at OFRG hope that this problem is rectified soon.
We’ll keep you updated on our progress, so keep checking back with the blog daily for updates on your tax dollars!
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