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House Passes Budget After Late-Night Debate, Senate Expected To Consider It Today

Oklahoma House of Reps
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House lawmakers approved a $7.1 billion budget late Wednesday night just one day after unveiling the plan. It now goes to the Senate on a 54-42 vote that saw several Republicans voting against the bill along with the House’s Democratic minority. The upper chamber is expected to consider the budget Thursday.

House Majority Floor Leader Charles Ortega (R-Altus) called the process intense, and said lawmakers are moving quickly to try to end the session Friday.

“Every day that we’re here, it costs the taxpayers anywhere from $30-35,000, so that’s a huge savings when you look at, constitutionally, we can be here until [May] 29th,” Ortega said.

The state constitution requires lawmakers adjourn the legislative session on the final Friday in May.

The budget plan closes a $611 million dollar hole by tapping the Rainy Day Fund, the Unclaimed Property Fund, and agency revolving accounts. It also redirects about $70 million from an improvement fund for county roads and bridges.

During the late-night debate that concluded shortly before midnight, Republicans and Democrats quizzed Budget and Appropriations Chairman Earl Sears about the various cuts to state agencies.The Journal Record’s Dale Denwalt reports the Bartlesville Republican said hard decisions had to be made.

While acknowledging that some programs might have to be cut and state employees could lose their jobs, Sears defended the budget as the best option available. Sears also told his colleagues that House negotiators stood their ground on a $120 million annual cap on motor vehicle license fees that are earmarked for county roads and bridges. He said he was happy that the budget kept public school funding flat, rather than a cut. We can go back to the drawing board, but I can guarantee you it won’t be any prettier than tonight,” Sears said in debate.

During committee debate before the bill went to the floor, Tulsa Democratic State Rep. Jeannie McDaniel asked Sears who the “losers” were in this year’s budget. Sears said it was the peripheral state agencies, according to eCapitol's Ben Luschen.

"There's no question, those smaller agencies that support state government, and then those agencies that give back to the citizens of Oklahoma, they received the highest cuts, it's just that simple," he said. Responding to another question from McDaniel, Sears said he believed the state should take in enough revenue next year in order to support a scheduled .25 percent income tax cut by next year. There will likely be some budget hole next year, he said, but not at the same magnitude they are seeing now. "Our economy is already on the rebound, it's already doing quite well," he said.

But there are some cushions for state agencies. Oklahoma Watch’s M. Scott Carter writes they’ll be able to tap their own revolving funds to spend on operations for a second year in a row. State Finance Secretary Preston Doerflinger said since the revolving funds are usually set aside for specific purposes, a substantial amount of money has built up at certain agencies.

For example, for fiscal year 2016 the Legislature authorized the Oklahoma Supreme Court to use its court information service revolving fund for operational expenses. Lawmakers also reduced the court's budget by $345,822, a 2 percent cut. That court's information service fund is used to pay for the the judiciary's computer network. Money for the fund comes from a $25 fee assessed on criminal and civil cases. House Budget Chairman, Rep. Earl Sears, R-Bartlesville, said allowing the Supreme Court to tap its own revolving funds prevented the court from taking a deeper cut. "I'm not sure what level that cut would have been, but it would have been deeper than what they have now," Sears said. Lawmakers used the same tool for the budgets of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Office of Management and Enterprise Services and the Oklahoma Health Care Authority.

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Brian Hardzinski is from Flower Mound, Texas and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. He began his career at KGOU as a student intern, joining KGOU full time in 2009 as Operations and Public Service Announcement Director. He began regularly hosting Morning Edition in 2014, and became the station's first Digital News Editor in 2015-16. Brian’s work at KGOU has been honored by Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (PRNDI), the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters, the Oklahoma Associated Press Broadcasters, and local and regional chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists. Brian enjoys competing in triathlons, distance running, playing tennis, and entertaining his rambunctious Boston Terrier, Bucky.
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