Gov. Asa Hutchinson promoted employees in his office Thursday to become the state's Medicaid inspector general and the state's budget administrator.
The Republican governor's chief legal counsel Elizabeth Smith will assume the duties of Medicaid inspector general within the next few weeks, and his budget director Duncan Baird, a former Republican state representative from Lowell, will start work as the state's budget administrator soon, Hutchinson announced.
Smith will succeed Jay Shue, who submitted his resignation effective June 20 after serving nearly two years in the job. The position was created in 2013. Before becoming Medicaid inspector general, Shue was in charge of the state attorney general's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Smith's salary as chief legal counsel is $125,000 a year. Shue's salary is $146,450 a year.
Smith's salary as Medicaid inspector general hasn't been determined yet, said Hutchinson spokesman J.R. Davis.
Hutchinson said in a written statement that Smith "is a perfect fit as the next Medicaid inspector general" based on her background in health care law and as a former deputy prosecutor. Smith has more than two decades of experience practicing law.
Hutchinson said he hasn't chosen Smith's replacement as chief legal counsel yet.
She has served as an associate general counsel for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, an assistant attorney general under Attorney General Mike Beebe, deputy prosecutor under 6th Judicial Circuit Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley, and an attorney specializing in health care for the law firm of Mitchell Williams Selig Gates and Woodyard, according to the governor's office.
Act 1499 of 2013, which created the inspector general's office, requires the inspector general to have at least 10 years of experience in prosecuting or investigating fraud, auditing or "comparable alternate experience in health care" that "involves some consideration of fraud."
The office has about 30 employees. The office investigates fraud and abuse in the Medicaid program and recommends policies to reduce improper payments. The state Department of Human Services' Medicaid Program Integrity Unit previously audited the program.
Baird will fill the vacancy created by the termination of the state's budget administrator Brandon Sharp on May 18.
Hutchinson said in a written statement that "I appreciate Duncan's work as we crafted our first state budget and worked with the Legislature to enact it into law.
"In his new role, he'll continue to play a critical part in both the budget process and our efforts to reform state government," the governor said.
Hutchinson said he doesn't intend to fill Baird's post as the budget director in the governor's office.
Baird's salary is $89,999 a year. Sharp's salary was $101,077 a year.
Baird's salary as the state's budget administrator hasn't been determined yet, said Davis.
Sharp had held the job since July 2011 and had replaced longtime budget administrator Mike Stormes, who had served in the job since 1989.
Baird is a former co-chairman of the Arkansas Legislature's Joint Budget Committee who lost his bid for the Republican nomination for state treasurer in May 2014 to Benton Republican Dennis Milligan.
Some lawmakers had urged Hutchinson to place Baird in charge of the Department of Finance and Administration, but the governor selected Larry Walther, a former state economic development director, instead in January.
Now Baird will work in the finance department headed by Walther.
Along with the finance department director and deputy director, the state's budget administrator presents the details of the governor's proposed state budgets to state lawmakers and pitches the governor's proposals.
The budget administrator also heads the department's Office of Budget, which is responsible for ensuring that the state keeps a balanced budget as required by state law. The office also implements annual operations plans for state agencies, prepares the state's proposed budgets and provides technical and fiscal expertise to the various branches and agencies of government, according to the office's website.
Metro on 06/12/2015