Credit Tulsa Health Department
The Oklahoma House narrowly and on a largely urban-rural split passed a bill this week to give the governor power over the Tulsa and Oklahoma city-county health departments.
House Bill 2504 inserts the state health commissioner, who is appointed by the governor, into the process of picking new directors for the state’s two independent health departments. The measure also requires local directors to align priorities with the health commissioner’s, lets the health commissioner ask for a local director’s removal and bans the local health departments from implementing regulations more stringent than the state’s.