Budget Failures and Buyouts
Taxpayers Continue Paying for Fallin’s Failures

[Oklahoma City, OK, February 12, 2016] Yesterday it was announced that Fallin’s general counsel, Steve Mullins, had accepted a buyout and will be moving on to something else professionally. Mullins is the third person directly related to the ongoing grand jury investigation regarding drug “mix-ups” in 2015. Robert Patton, State Corrections Department Director, and Anita Trammell, Oklahoma State Penitentiary Warden also resigned or retired after their testimonies to the grand jury.

“Suspicion is definitely high right now and we all are anxiously awaiting the outcome of the grand jury investigation,” said Sarah Baker, Oklahoma Democratic Party Communications Director. “Furthermore, it is very concerning that at a time when the state is facing a now $1.3 billion revenue failure – a budget hole that is likely to grow as session moves forward – the Governor’s general counsel would receive a presently undisclosed buyout after giving his grand jury testimony. The Governor’s general counsel is not a position which can remain vacant so we can only wonder now how much these ‘mix-ups’ are going to continue to cost the taxpayers of Oklahoma. How many other severance packages or buyouts can we expect to see relating to this investigation.”

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