Latest news with #BrendaStanley
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Legislature slaps restrictions on who can oversee Oklahoma's mental health settlement agreement
Sen. Brenda Stanley, R-Midwest City, is pictured during a special legislative session. (Photo by Carmen Forman/Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY – Amid ongoing turmoil, the Oklahoma Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that appears to require someone other than the state's current mental health commissioner to oversee compliance with a landmark mental health settlement agreement. Under House Bill 2513, which heads to Gov. Kevin Stitt's desk, the official tasked with overseeing the implementation of the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services' settlement agreement must be a medical doctor or hold a doctorate degree. Allie Friesen, Oklahoma's current mental health commissioner, has a master's degree, according to a press release announcing her appointment in January 2024. Sen. Brenda Stanley, R-Midwest City, said Dr. Jason Beaman, who serves the mental health department's chief medical officer, has agreed to oversee the court-required improvements. He will ensure timely competency restoration services are delivered for criminal defendants awaiting trial. She said the agency has already tasked him with implementing the settlement. Lawmakers this year have approved $9.5 million to pay for it, Stanley said. Under the bill, Beaman would have control of legislatively appropriated dollars to implement the settlement. He also would be responsible for working with legislative leaders on the department's forensic-related legislation. Stanley said the measure requires that the person overseeing the implementation report directly to the Legislature and governor. The individual would also report to the commissioner, according to the bill. 'So we'll have good oversight in that agency to make sure this consent decree is carried out like it is supposed to be,' Stanley said. Shortly after the settlement agreement was approved, lawmakers discovered the mental health department was in financial disarray and needed a multi-million dollar emergency appropriation to make payroll and ensure contracts were fulfilled. The revelation prompted legislative inquiries and an audit. Friesen blamed the financial situation on prior administrations, but Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond called for her termination. Stanley said Beaman will be charged with increasing training of forensic health care professionals, reducing the number of people inaccurately declared incompetent, reducing wait times for treatment and adding inpatient competency beds. 'I have full faith that he will be able to do that,' she said. Senate Minority Leader Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, said she supported the bill because change is needed. But she said she is concerned about the bigger issue, cash management, at the agency. 'I hope we can continue to raise the alarm and try to improve our oversight so that we don't fall apart this year,' she said. Stitt said part of the agency's problem was a lack of 'guardrails' on contracts with providers, which has occurred probably over the last decade or more. 'You can't have nonprofits and vendors billing unlimited,' Stitt said. 'There's not an unlimited checkbook on this side.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
After Oklahoma governor vetoed mammogram bill, lawmakers could attempt to override him
The month of May at the Oklahoma Capitol has become known, in recent years, for Gov. Kevin Stitt's frequent vetoes, followed by lawmakers' inevitable attempts to override some of those vetoes. Stitt, through Thursday, May 15, had vetoed 39 bills approved by the Legislature. With a deadline of May 30 looming, legislative leaders are forming the list of vetoed bills on which they'll attempt override votes. And while those leaders are still keeping the contents of that list close to the vest, one bill clearly is at the top: House Bill 1389. The bipartisan bill, sponsored by Rep. Melissa Provenzano, D-Tulsa, and Sen. Brenda Stanley, R-Midwest City, would have expanded insurance coverage for breast cancer imaging and advanced diagnostic tests that are essential to early detection, without cost-sharing for patients. Provenzano's introduction of the bill on the House floor resulted in a touching display of affection rarely seen in the Capitol. Legislators of both major parties wore pink to honor Provenzano, who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Tears and hugs and words of kindness abounded from both sides of the political aisle. The bill passed 95-0 — unanimous votes on legislation are rare ― in the House, and 34-11 in the Senate, with only far-right Republican senators voting against it. Stitt vetoed it on May 6, saying, while he is 'deeply sympathetic to the women across our state who have bravely fought breast cancer,' he believed 'this legislation imposes new and costly insurance mandates on private health plans that will ultimately raise insurance premiums for working families and small businesses. … Without fail, when government gets involved in markets, prices rise for everyone.' The veto stunned most Capitol observers, given the strong support the bill received in the Legislature and the fact that one of its sponsors had such a sympathetic story. Stanley called the veto 'disheartening' and said the governor was mistaken about the bill's cost: '(T)he reality is that the costs of providing preventative screenings are minuscule when compared to the costs to treat late-stage disease.' Opinion: Three vetoes by Gov. Kevin Stitt should be overridden by the OK Legislature | Editorial Provenzano said a law passed in 2022 covered diagnostic mammograms and the vetoed bill would have covered 'the very next test that gets ordered when your doctor finds something on your annual screening mammogram.' She said she'd fielded many calls 'from women who say their insurance companies are pushing back on coverage, despite what the law says.' Almost immediately, House Bill 1389 moved to the top of the veto-override list. Because it didn't contain an emergency clause, only two-thirds of the members of each legislative chamber would need to approve the override for it to be successful — 68 in the House and 32 in the Senate. (Bills with an emergency clause require a three-fourths majority in both chambers.) Asked Thursday about possible veto overrides, Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, immediately mentioned House Bill 1389. His legislative counterparts on the Democratic side of the aisle seem to agree. More: Oklahoma governor rejects measure requiring insurers to cover more breast cancer tests 'I know that there's strong support to override the mammography insurance mandate (veto),' said Senate Minority Leader Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City. 'That's something … many people in the Women's Caucus have signed onto, and I think that was just important to make sure people have access to quality health diagnosis. That's a huge one we've been talking about.' House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City, said she's hopeful that now that Paxton and House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, have reached an agreement with Stitt on the state budget, the Legislature will start working on potential veto override votes. 'I'm assuming we'd utilize that very last week after Memorial Day to come back,' Munson said, mentioning specifically House Bill 1389. 'There are a couple other pieces of legislation that I think both Republicans and Democrats — Republicans have been getting their bills vetoed as well. So I'm sure they have a list of requests that they've sent into their chamber leaders that we may be able to see in that last week. I'm not certain on that, but I'm hopeful that that will happen.' If House Bill 1389 does become law via a veto override, it would take effect Nov. 1. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma mammogram bill vetoed by Gov. Stitt could see override
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Oklahoma Senate panel advances bill banning smoking in vehicles with children
Sen. Brenda Stanley, R-Midwest City, is pictured during a special legislative session. (Photo by Carmen Forman/Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY – A Senate panel on Tuesday passed a bill that would prohibit smoking tobacco, marijuana and vapor products in a vehicle in the presence of a child. Under Senate Bill 23, violators would be subject to a fine of $50 to $100. The measure, by Sen. Brenda Stanley, R-Midwest City, passed the Senate Public Safety Committee by a vote of 5-3 and heads to the Senate floor. Sen. Regina Goodwin, D-Tulsa, who voted against the bill, said she doesn't smoke, but cigarettes are legal, and some people are addicted to them. 'Yes, they are dangerous though,' Stanley said. Goodwin said private cars are like private homes. Stanley said the state governs other behaviors in vehicles by requiring seat belts and car seats. 'This is just taking care of children,' she said. Stanley, an educator, said she remembers children coming to school with smoke billowing out of the vehicle and wreaking of the smell. 'I realize people have a right to smoke,' Stanley said. 'We just don't want them to do it in a closed vehicle.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
