OKLAHOMA CITY – Sen. Roger _ompson, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement Wednesday a_er the Senate’s 45-2 vote overriding Senate Bill 1130. _e bill would prevent the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) from spending $600 million of Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) money, instead placing those funds back into the appropriations process for the Legislature to determine how the monies would best be utilized.

“_e governor is wrong. As I outlined on the Senate _oor today when we had to override another one of the governor’s vetoes, there are basic factual errors in his message where he is being misleading. We are not sweeping the funds, as he claimed, nor are we being imprudent. Furthermore, as mandated by the Oklahoma Constitution, it is the job of the Legislature to appropriate.

“It is because of the scally responsible work of this chamber that the state is in the position we are in nancially that the governor likes to brag about so much. We are looking out for the care and well-being of Oklahomans.”