Who's down with PPE?

The State seems to be having a hard time acquiring personal protective equipment (PPE), and that has led to some...questionable purchase decisions and a forthcoming audit of the state Department of Health. Also, it looks like the state budget will be $800M-$1.3B short next year...but why can't the legislature and Governor's office agree on how much?

SHOW NOTES

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Overview of what happened this week

• Today is May 1st and, as I’m sure all of our listeners are aware, effective today the state has relaxed some of its ‘safer at home’ rules and allowed certain businesses to reopen. Cities followed suit, albeit somewhat begrudgingly. 
• The state has reportedly received $1.2 Billion in federal funding to fight the coronavirus pandemic, and this week we got some more information about how that money is being spent. 
• On Thursday Governor Stitt announced a new mobile testing program for underserved areas and expanding testing to “anyone who wants it,” even those without symptoms, at any of the state’s 80 drive-thru testing locations. 
• Health Department Commissioner Gary Cox said their goal is to test 90,000 Oklahomans during the month of May. They are also dramatically expanding the number of contract tracer staff, from 150 to more than 1000. 
• How is this going to affect Oklahoma’s response to the pandemic?
• Not all the news about COVID expenditures has been positive. 
• On Tuesday the Oklahoman reported that the state had canceled a $9.5 million purchase of N95 masks because the FBI was investigating the seller. (This sounds like a bad ebay review.) Basically it sounds like it was a “half now, half on delivery” situation.
• The FBI said the company possibly had “fraudulent activity” involving Chinese ventilators and that Oklahoma had been specifically identified as a potential victim. 
• Also on Tuesday, the Oklahoman also reported that Attorney General Mike Hunter has requested the state auditor’s office to conduct yet another investigation of the State Department of Health, specifically related to how they’ve been handling COVID-19 related purchasing decisions.
• How are they making these decisions? Who's the person making most of these decisions?
• Aside from the FBI-investigated company , what are some other questionable purchasing decisions have been made?
• Is this really the state’s fault, or is it just because every country in the world is trying to procure these items and most are made in the one country where this all started?
• In other financial news, the state legislature is expected to reconvene next week to get pass a budget for next year. The problem, of course, is that the state is expected to have between $800M - $1.3B less than this year...but they’re not sure how much. Thats a big variance, and #okleg isn't happy with the Governor’s office.
• Big cuts to education coming? Big enough to undo what what 
• LWV vs Election Board lawsuit was heard this week; ruling should come soon