Getting through legislative logjam
The log jam in the Legislature seems to have broken a little bit as the House released our budget numbers this week. This seemed to be a sticking point between the two legislative chambers.
The House this week revealed its House Budget Transparency Portal available on the OKHouse. gov website.
The House is proposing a $12.6 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2025, which starts July 1. This is 4.2% less than what we appropriated last year. This would include $5.52 billion for education, $883.95 million for transportation, $743.32 million for public safety, and $2.2 billion for public health, among many other areas.
The full breakdown for each agency that receives public funding is now available to the public and to the Senate, so further budget negotiations can now commence. We have until the end of May to finish our work
This week, we began hearing Senate bills on the House floor, and the Senate began hearing House bills.
One important piece of legislation we heard this week is Senate Joint Resolution 34, which seeks to overhaul the current system of judicial appointments by the private Judicial Nominating Commission. Right now, the Oklahoma Bar Association selects six of the commission’s 15 members, and their process for vetting and recommending appellate court candidates and district court replacements is a bit secretive.
This resolution would send the matter to a vote of the people asking them if they would prefer to replace this commission and instead let the governor, the House and the Senate confirm or reject nominations to the courts. I support this idea because it ultimately gives the Oklahoma voters more power to choose their judges.
I also was able to connect some dots again last week as I set up a meeting with the government liaison of Union Pacific Railroad, Tiecy Cotton, with a couple of representatives from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation concerning the replacement of three bridges on Carl Albert Parkway in McAlester. ODOT is asking for a waiver on two of the three and has been denied, so this was an opportunity to let Union Pacific hear on the ground level about their concerns. If these waivers are granted, this will save several million dollars in construction costs, which means valuable taxpayer dollars are saved.
As always, thank you for allowing me to serve you. I can be reached at (405) 557-7381 or by email at jim.grego@ okhouse.gov.