House to increase board oversight
Oklahoma House legislators will take on a larger role in overseeing state boards and commissions by regularly attending their public meetings and private executive sessions.
House Speaker Charles McCall announced Friday that oversight of 40 state boards and commissions will bed ivvied up among the House committees with legislators attending board meetings to improve their understanding of state agencies and keep a closer eye on the appointed boards.
The boards McCall chose are just a fraction of Oklahoma' s nearly 200 governing bodies, but many correspond to state agencies and make decisions about how to spend funds appropriated by the Legislature. In a news release, McCall said he may add boards in the future. Among others, legislators will attend meetings of the Corporation Commission, Election Board, state Regents for Higher Education and state boards of Health, Education, Corrections, Juvenile Affairs, and Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
Increased oversight of the state' s governing boards goes hand-in-hand with other transparency measures the Legislature has implemented in recent years, McCall said.
In 2016, the House launched more robust budget hearings for the state's largest agencies.
Earlier this year, Gov. Kevin St itt signed legis lat ion and funded the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency—a joint venture of the House and Senate to create a watchdog budget office. Stitt also has emphasized the need for greater transparency in state government.
“Citizens want more oversight of government, and we are continuing to deliver it ,” McCall said. “The House is continuing to build on the oversight efforts we have made in the past three years. This time, we are rolling up our sleeves, getting out of the Capitol and visiting agency governing boards ourselves to inform our policymaking. This work will occur year- round — regardless of whether the Legislature is in session.”
Legislators will attend meetings to observe, not participate, McCall said.
They also will be able to attend the executive sessions of boards and commissions due to a rarely invoked provision of the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act. Executive sessions are not open to the public, and House legislators will not be able to share what they hear in that portion of the meeting unless they hear something truly egregious, McCall said.
Part of why legislators are attending these meetings is to ensure the state's public bodies are going into closed session when it is proper to do so.
“There are legitimate reasons for executive sessions, but when they are used for the wrong reasons, it is to the detriment of Oklahoma citizens,” McCall said.
As House Speaker, McCall gets to make a number of appointments to state boards and commissions. A spokesman for McCall could not say of the 40 boards being singled out, how many included McCall appointees.
But McCall spokesman John Est us said House appointees are among those who think this additional l ayer of oversight will be helpful.
“An appointee is there to run the agency and hold it accountable, and the House members are there to learn and hold the board at large accountable to citizens,” he said. “There has to be accountability in government, and accountability works best when it exists at all levels.”