State lawmakers spent hours Tuesday questioning the head of Oklahoma’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, digging into a $43 million funding gap that could require the state to step in and cover.

This is the first of several hearings as part of a legislative investigation into the department’s finances. The probe runs alongside a LOFT (Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency) review and an audit requested by Gov. Kevin Stitt.

House Speaker Kyle Hilbert said the committee is starting with no assumptions.

“Oftentimes in politics you have committees that start with an end goal in mind,” Hilbert said. “In this situation we are truly wanting to dig in and we don't know how this is going to end.”

“We're genuinely calling this investigation and these hearings so we can figure out what in the world is going on, how much money do we need to finish the fiscal year, how much money is needed next year, what's going on with the contracts, where are we on the consent decree we entered earlier this year,” Hilbert said. “Let’s dig in. Let’s get some answers.”

Gov. Stitt echoed that message, saying, “We’re gonna keep working to find efficiency. That’s my job as governor. I’m gonna continue to push state government to be more efficient and make sure those dollars are on target, helping Oklahomans and accomplishing the mission these agencies are set out to accomplish.”

He emphasized that core services will remain intact, despite concerns about the budget.

“I want to assure Oklahomans that we are providing the same dollars. We’re not cutting any kind of services,” Stitt said. “There are some contracts that were certainly going through that maybe the RFP process wasn’t done accurately, so we want to re-put those out there. But we’ve worked really, really hard to make sure that Oklahomans — there’s no interruptions in services and Oklahomans can get the care that they need.”

Commissioner Allie Friesen told lawmakers her top priority is restoring trust in the department.

She said she’s working to “fix the system in her department to be accountable so the legislative body can feel comfortable appropriating dollars.”

Hilbert said time is short, with budget decisions due in just a few weeks.

“It’s gonna be a lot of work, but we’ve got to get some answers by the last constitutional deadline, by the last Friday in May,” he said.

A leading contention between Friesen and lawmakers was exactly how much the agency needed. The agency has stated it is experiencing a $43 million shortfall, but only requested $6.2 million in a supplemental budget request to make it to the end of the current fiscal year.

In response, Friesen told lawmakers her interim CFO could answer the question — but he has not yet testified before the select committee. However, he is on the schedule to testify during a subsequent meeting of the committee.

She largely pointed blame toward her predecessor, telling lawmakers she "inherited" a bad situation, while partially accepting responsibility for her role as head of the agency.

"I want to be clear that, again, we have made mistakes and I'm trying to confidently acknowledge and take accountability and ownership for those mistakes and fix them as quickly as possible," she said.