A message from Representative Patzkowsky

First, I want to wish everyone from House District 61 a very Merry Christmas and express hope for a much happier New Year. I know 2020 has been a challenge with the pandemic and the result on the economy, the election unrest and more, but I’m thanking God that He sent His son to earth to save us. We need His promise of peace and good will now more than ever.

On the legislative front, House Republicans recently held a caucus planning session in which we discussed our priorities for the coming legislative session. We, of course, want to add more jobs to our state to help us strengthen our economy. We want to improve state services such as transportation, education, health care and public safety but keep our regulations and our taxes low so our state remains a great place to raise a family and own a business.

We got some good news recently from the state Board of Equalization. The board estimates the Legislature will have $8.4 billion to appropriate for the state budget for Fiscal Year 2022, which starts July 1. Deciding where this money will go will take up much of the coming legislative session. The picture is much better than we first expected, though, with the effects of the pandemic and the drop in the price of oil and gas.

Of course, part of our funding will need to go to the Medicaid expansion approved by state voters back in June. Voters approved adding an article to the Oklahoma Constitution that expands eligibility for Oklahoma’s Medicaid program to include lowincome adults between the ages of 18 and 65 whose income does not exceed 133% of the federal poverty level that are not already covered by Medicaid. It is estimated this could add at least another 200,000 Oklahomans to our Medicaid roles at a cost of about $164 million.

At the federal level, we’ve witnessed a lot of unrest and uncertainty in swing states where election rules and regulations were changed at the last minute without legislative approval resulting in unverifiable mail-in ballots being counted.

In Oklahoma, we’ve taken a number of steps legislatively to safeguard the integrity of our elections. Earlier this year, our own liberal leaning state Supreme Court said that notarized absentee ballots in the COVID-19 atmosphere would not be necessary. Our legislative body responded quickly with Senate Bill 1779 that specified a state driver’s license or other valid form of ID could be used to accompany absentee ballots. This measure and others approved by Oklahoma voters in the past help safeguard against ballot harvesting, which seems to be a problem in other states.

On the local front, I’m glad to see the snow we’ve gotten recently. We can always use the moisture out here in the Panhandle and Northwest Oklahoma.

Well, that’s the news for now from the state House. Now, I’m heading to the farm house.