Pass-Through Money Benefits Many Groups

From the McCarville Report

Nov. 1, 2012

Jerry Bohnen
Contributing Editor

While Oklahoma City attorney Andrew Karim has written to top state leaders demanding the recovery of $2 million in state money given to the Youth Expo livestock show, some lawmakers point out there are dozens of other groups getting the same kind of pass-through money.

They are lawmakers who support the lawsuit filed in September challenging the Oklahoma Agriculture Department’s $2 million pass-through funding of the Oklahoma Youth Expo. And they say they’ve found nearly 40 other groups getting nearly $11 million in state money without providing any accountability.

The lawsuit was filed in Oklahoma County District Court by Representatives Mike Reynolds, a Republican from Oklahoma City and Mike Ritze, a Republican from Broken Arrow.  They contend the pass-through funding of the Youth Expo is a violation of the Oklahoma Constitution.

. . . Rep. Wesselhoft provided a list of at least 40 other groups like the Youth Expo that also get the pass-through funding that was arranged by what he called powerful legislators.  “These are non-profits but not a single one appears on the budget.” He said he’s met with more than a dozen legislators who were unaware of the pass-through funding and ‘were shocked.’ “The constitution is very clear. We do not give tax moneys to non-profits. But they get around it by calling it a pass through.”

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