Special session likely to last into 2018, lawmaker says
The second special session that began Monday likely will extend into the new year, as lawmakers again try to fix longstanding issues with the Oklahoma budget.
House Floor Leader Jon Echols, R-Oklahoma City, said he has told fellow Republicans that after working this week, they should prepare to meet again sometime during the first two weeks of January. The regular session begins in February.
Both the House and Senate convened Monday to begin a legislative do-over of sorts.
They were called back to the Capitol by Gov. Mary Fallin with one goal: Appropriate enough money to the Oklahoma Health Care Authority so it doesn’t have to cut SoonerCare provider reimbursement rates.
The first two bills of the second special session were filed in the Senate. One bill would appropriate $32.1 million to the Health Care Authority. The other would send $11.8 million to the Department of Human Services.
If they receive the money, both agencies would have enough
money to continue operations until the end of April. However, that’s still two months shy of
the new budget year so lawmakers would still
have to find enough revenue, from somewhere, to keep the agencies running until July.
The third agency hit by the loss of cigarette fee revenue over the summer is the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, which Echols said already has enough money appropriated to remain operational until the end of April.
When Fallin issued her special session call, she only asked for lawmakers to appropriate money to the Health Care Authority. She would need to amend her call for the DHS appropriation to become law.
“The meetings we’ve had in the last few days have been the most fruitful I’ve probably been a part of,” said Echols, who was in bipartisan meetings with Republican and Democratic leaders of both the House and Senate, along with the governor’s office. “I anticipate this week running smooth.”
Both bills that were filed Monday will be heard on the Senate floor Wednesday and on the House floor on Friday. If they pass both legislative bodies, Fallin can sign them into law.
Echols said the money will come from tax collections linked to oil and gas production. In the first special session, lawmakers raised the gross production tax on older wells from 4 percent to 7 percent. The extra revenue coming in this year will be enough to cover the appropriation bills under consideration this week, he said.
“I really believe, with the communications that are going on, everybody can get on board with using oil and gas money that’s already been collected and just sending it to these agencies,” Echols said.