Senator: DHHS Gave False Budget Information

Senator: DHHS Gave False Budget Information | wltx.com

Columbia, SC (WLTX) -- Some state senators want to know why they received false information about the Department of Health and Human Services budget.

Senator Vincent Sheheen, a Democrat who represents Kershaw County says a judiciary subcommittee on government oversight spoke with the department's former director, Emma Forkner, Wednesday morning.

He says she claimed she knew the department would have a shortfall after former Governor Mark Sanford vetoed provisions for the agency.

"I think it's fair to say that the director and the staff at Health and Human Services thought that the growth rate would be higher than we were told, then the legislators were told, and the governor's office made quite clear to her that she should use the lower number so that it would look like the program wouldn't cost as much as it turned out to cost and there's a real problem with that," he said.

He gave a report to the full Senate on the meeting Wednesday afternoon.

Sheheen says legislators could have dealt with the deficit by giving enough funding or changing rules for the program to reduce costs.

"There's a real problem with providing numbers that aren't even close to accurate," he said.

Sheheen says the subcommittee has more questions and plans to interview more people to find out if the miscommunication was done on purpose or through negligence.

He also says they plan to look into the agency passing money it owed from one fiscal year into another as far back at the 2008 fiscal year.