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Stitt says Oklahoma identified $157 million in unused federal health grants; says returning funds to feds faces legal hurdles
Summary
Governor Kevin Stitt said a review found about $157 million in federal health and healthcare grant funding that state agencies had not used, and that there is no clear federal mechanism for a state to return unused funds, prompting discussions with U.S. senators.
Governor Kevin Stitt described a report identifying about $157,000,000 in federal health-care grant funds that state officials had not used and said the state was seeking ways to return the money to the federal government.
‘‘What the health department has told me is these are unused grants. Right? It's stuff that, we had sitting there, that were never deployed,’’ Stitt said. He called returning those funds ‘‘a pretty easy savings to return back’’ but said there is no federal mechanism for states to return unused funds directly.
Stitt said his office has asked Oklahoma’s U.S. senators to consider legislation that would allow a state to return unused federal dollars. ‘‘It’s still sitting — it’s my understanding it’s still sitting here in the state of Oklahoma because there is really no apparatus for the federal government to, to take money back,’’ he said.
He also responded to a reporter’s question on whether the unused grants aligned with federal rescissions proposed during the prior administration; Stitt said that appeared to be a coincidence and not a deliberate alignment.
The governor did not provide a detailed list of the grants or identify which specific programs or years were involved, and he said the state had asked agencies to account for funds. He encouraged continued agency review and public reporting on grant usage.
