Legislators Want to Strip Transparency from Universal Services Fund

A fight’s looming in the Oklahoma legislature over the efforts of some legislators to strip transparency from how millions of dollars in money from telephone customers is spent on financing Internet and broadband projects for schools, libraries and hospitals.

HB 2616, by Rep. Todd Thomsen (R) of Pontotoc County and Sen. Eddie Field of Wynona has already won House approval and heads to the State senate in the coming days. But it’s being fought by one administrator at the State Corporation Commission.

“We got a pretty scary situation,” said Brandy Wreath, Director of the Public Utility Division. “If we’re not minding the cookie jar, they can charge whatever they want and no one can say anything about it.”

He’s referring to what is called the Oklahoma Universal Services fund (OUSF) which is created by charges on land lines in the state. Under a 2012 law passed by the legislature, the Corporation Commission was tasked with making sure “public interest” was properly served in the millions of dollars in projects that had previously been rubber stamped.

“Over that time period,” said Wreath, “we’ve reduced funding by $15 million a year through disallowances, bad bids, for ones that weren’t properly bid–we’ve reduced it.”

In 2014, the projects totaled $45 million while in 2015, the OUSF projects totaled $23 million.

“Before any dollars were paid, we had a full and complete audit of the money before it was paid out. This bill would stop that completely,” stated Wreath in an interview with OK Energy Today. He said there would be no transparency of how the money would be spent, nor could the Commission hold any of the schools, libraries and hospitals accountable on the expense of their projects.

“In our opinion, there would be none I believe this reduces all transparency from the program and it becomes a trube rubber stamp, ceding all of the state’s oversight authority to the federal program,” said Wreath. “We would be required to pay the difference without any audit, without making sure they properly bid it, without even being able to make sure they follow the federal program guidelines—we would be forced to make a payment to them for the difference.”

Wreath contends if HB 2616 were to become law, there would be no new benefits to Oklahkomans and telephone customers’ bills would go up by millions to pay for the program.

He’s also prepared a handout he intends to attempt to hand-deliver Monday to every state senator in which he stated that the Corporation Commission was not part of the bill drafting discussions.

“I am concerned that only those who benefit financially from the fund appear to have had a say in the major provisions of the bill.”

Who had a say? Who’s to blame? Wreath suspects the schools and hospitals as well as their contract consultants whose commissions were affected contacted the legislators.

Listen to Jerry Bohnen’s interview of Brandy Wreath.

Click here for audio