Needs may take priority over GOP long-term plans

Republican leadership in the Oklahoma Senate has vowed to focus on long-term goals this year, but there are more pressing issues that Oklahoma lawmakers will have to consider when session begins next month.

Senate President Pro Tem Mike Schulz said his caucus has crafted an agenda that would shape policy for decades.

“They focused on what we need to do right now to put this state on a course that 5, 10, 15, 20 years down the road, we look back and say these were game-changing decisions,” Schulz said at a news conference Thursday.

The Altus Republican acknowledged a critical decision lawmakers will have to make: the implementation of a state identification card that meets federal guidelines, known as REAL ID. Schulz called it the most important issue the government needs to solve.

“We’re going to get a piece of REAL ID legislation passed quickly and signed by the governor,” he said.

The federal government has given Oklahoma until June to begin working on a compliant license.

House leadership also has promised to move quickly on the issue. House Floor Leader Jon Echols has said he wants to hear major pieces of legislation within days of Gov. Mary Fallin’s State of the State address on Feb. 6. That includes REAL ID and other bills to raise teacher pay and limit wind production tax credits.

Schulz would not commit the Senate to a similar timeline, but said he will work with the House.

“We are in communication about things we can do collaboratively, and moving as quickly as we can,” he said. “How many of those will be successful, I don’t know.”

On teacher raises, Sen. Jason Smalley, R-Stroud, said there’s no consensus yet.

“The big question is: How do you pay for that and how do you phase that in?” he said. “Is that a phase-in program? Is it across the board? That’s something we’re going to have to weigh out through that process.”

Smalley also said a topic up for debate is whether the state has an issue with revenue or spending.

Minority leader John Sparks said he was troubled by the GOP’s presentation in a year when lawmakers are facing a budget shortfall of nearly $1 billion.

“We’ve heard for a while that we’re in a budget crisis,” said Sparks, D-Norman. “If the Republican leadership, or part of their leadership, believes we still have a spending problem, then they should also believe we don’t have a budget problem.”

He also said the agenda had few specifics what the actual goals are and how to achieve them.

The Senate GOP agenda includes broadly defined goals in health care, education, economy, veteran services and public safety. The caucus said it would monitor implementation of criminal justice reforms, like a measure passed last year to let prosecutors file some crimes as misdemeanors rather than felonies.