'Legislative Take Over': Local Leaders Respond To Bill Limiting OKC, Tulsa Health Departments

Local leaders are speaking out against a bill that passed out of the Oklahoma House of Representatives to limit the power of the state's two largest health departments.

“This is a legislative take over, or an attempt to manipulate the makeup of our board,” Oklahoma County Commissioner Brian Maughan said Monday.

Maughan and Commissioner Carrie Blumert took a rare step officially voting to oppose HB 2504 as a board. A representative for Commissioner Kevin Calvey abstained from voting in the commissioner’s absence. 

Among other things, the bill requires the Oklahoma and Tulsa City County Health Department directors perform duties "in consultation" with the state health commissioner and would ban local rules from being "more stringent" than state guidelines. It also allows the state health commissioner to force a vote on removing the local director.

“I just don't see, as the leader of this health department, the need for a bill of this nature,” OCCHD’s Dr. Patrick McGough said.

Under a constitutional amendment on the books since 1950, Oklahoma and Tulsa County taxpayers pay a property tax to fund their health departments. The state’s 68 other county health departments don’t have the tax and work under the state health department.

State leaders point to early issues with COVID-19 testing and vaccine roll out in Tulsa County as an reason the change is needed.

Last week, News 9 asked Governor Kevin Stitt if the COVID-19 response in Tulsa and Oklahoma Counties would have been better under state control.

“They, I'm sure did the best that they could do, but there was certainly, there wasn't a coordinated approach when you had two health departments kind of doing their own thing,” Stitt said.

Last year, Oklahoma County taxpayers pumped in more than $20 million of ad valorem taxes into the department, a tax other counties don't have to pay.

“If the state wants to come in and pay for our health department then they could run it,” Maughan said.

The bill passed the state House 54-41 and could be heard in the Senate as early as next week.