Weekly Opinion/Editorial

FISHING BUDDIES!

by Steve Fair

Last week, Governor Henry vetoed Senate Bill #2052 which was authored by House Speaker Chris Benge, (R-Tulsa), and Senate President pro Tempe Glenn Coffee, (R-Bethany). The bill would have consolidated the Oklahoma State and Education Employees Groups Insurance Board and the Oklahoma Employees Benefits Council into one entity called the Oklahoma Health and Wellness Board. The consolidation was expected to save millions-an estimated 15% - in administrative cost alone. SB #2052 would have also set up a competitive bidding process for a statewide HMO. The bill passed both chambers in the state legislature by huge margins.
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Because many state agencies and school districts anticipated the bill becoming law, they built the anticipated savings into their 2011 budgets which means already challenging budgets become more difficult. Some of the largest state agencies will be impacted- The Department of Human Services had factored in $1.2 million in savings, the Department of Corrections $3.7 million.
So why did Governor Henry veto the bill? He says it was because the legislation was rushed and the bill didn’t have input from all the ‘stakeholders’ of health insurance. In his press release after the veto Henry said, “The bottom line is this was questionable legislation at best, drafted in secret and rushed through in the final hours of session.”
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The truth is, the Governor was aware of the legislation and had been for more than a year. Last year, Benge and Coffee created the State Employee Health Insurance Review Working group, which was comprised of a bipartisan group of House and Senate members and the state Insurance Commissioner, Kim Holland. The working group crafted the vetoed legislation based on the recommendations proposed in a report from a national insurance consultant, which was publicly released and sent to the governor in December 2009. Upon the release of the report, the Speaker’s staff also met with the governor’s staff to discuss the report and the potential for legislation.
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"This legislation represents common sense reform that was the result of 15 months of cooperative effort. All stakeholders were involved in the crafting of this legislation and many people gave a lot of time and effort to make this happen. The legislation was supported overwhelmingly in the House and Senate and was endorsed by the state and education employees associations," said Benge. "Rejection of this legislation will allow health care costs to continue to spiral out of control for our state, which is a major concern for every agency and state and education employee in this state. It is inaccurate to say that this legislation was not properly vetted."
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Oklahoma State Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland, a Democrat, said “The efforts of the House and Senate working group were thorough, deliberative and inclusive. Our goal was to maintain competitive benefits for our state and education employees and their families while reducing costs to those employees and to state agencies. We accomplished our goal and I am disappointed by the veto."
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Henry's veto, some claim, benefited Dr. John Bell, son of Norman attorney Richard Bell, one of Henry's earliest and most generous supporters. Dr. Bell is connected to an HMO company called GlobalHealth which solicits state employees business. The address for GlobalHealth and Dr. Bell’s office is one and the same. His dad, Richard Bell is Vice President of the Sarkey’s foundation in Norman where first lady Kim Henry serves as Executive Director.
Sarkey’s Foundation President is Terry West, a long time supporter of the Governor. Henry calls West, Uncle Terry. Both he and Bell have traveled to the Amazon twice on elaborate fishing trips with the Governor.
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Richard Bell was involved in the scandal over illegal campaign contributions in the financing of former Governor David Walters' 1990 campaign. He pled guilty to a misdemeanor and agreed to testify against Walters.
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"It is sad that this kind of speculation about the governor's motives(for vetoing SB #2052) are circulating," said a Democratic legislator who did not wish to be identified. "I hope there's nothing to it...the circumstances are curious, though."
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This was ‘no-brainer, win/win’ legislation. It would have streamlined state and education employee’s health insurance programs and saved money for the state and the worker. Health Choice premiums have increased an average of ten percent a year for the past decade and this bill would have slowed down that growth.
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"This is a very important issue to state and education employees, as well as all Oklahoma agencies," said House Speaker-Designate Kris Steele, R-Shawnee. "I intend to study this subject over the interim in preparation for the next legislative session."
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Whether the Governor was helping his fishing buddies out by vetoing SB #2052 may never be known, but as Oscar winning comedian Steven Wright says, “there is a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot.”