Raises and bonuses for some state employees would be capped under a bill approved by the Oklahoma House on Tuesday.
House Bill 3024, authored by Rep. Dick Lowe, R-Amber, would limit pay raises and bonuses for executive branch employees at 10% of their base pay, barring a substantial title or responsibility change or a performance review.
The measure exempts certain employees, such as agency directors or CEOs, employees of “non-appropriated agencies,” positions requiring advanced degrees, licensing or accreditation, and higher education, school district and career technology district employees.
“We saw some agencies last year give tremendously big raises or bonuses, and we found out about it in the newspaper,” Lowe said. “That’s not the way it’s supposed to work.”
He said this measure doesn’t stop people from getting raises or bonuses, but if it surpasses the 10% cap it would have to go through the Office of Management and Enterprise Services for transparency and require Cabinet secretary approval.
“That way we know what’s coming and know what to expect,” Lowe said.
Agency heads are excluded from the measure because the Legislature doesn’t set those salaries. Usually those are set by the governor or a board of directors, he said.
The measure also excludes “non-appropriated agencies,” which Lowe said would include agencies like the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, because they have to hire employees with certain degrees or accreditations.
“I think the public deserves to know what’s going on, and not backdoor, behind the scenes, just money going out,” Lowe said. “We saw one agency with salaries that were probably two or three times what they ought to be, or just before somebody leaves getting a $40,000 bonus. That’s not good use of taxpayers’ money.”
An OMES report found that 18 chief executive officers were given pay increases of 10% or more in fiscal year 2025.
Reporting from Oklahoma Watch in 2025 revealed that former state Superintendent Ryan Walters had issued over $600,000 in end-of-year bonuses to agency staff in 2024. This included a $45,000 raise to one adviser who lived out of state.
The bill passed through the House with a 79-9 vote and heads to the Oklahoma Senate.
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