Oklahoma’s FY 2024 Budget Goes Into Law
Gov. Kevin Stitt let the fiscal year 2024 state budget go into law without his signature today.
Last week, Oklahoma lawmakers approved an almost $13 billion budget package for the upcoming fiscal year. That’s despite hesitancy from Stitt.
The Governor and the legislature spent months debating how education funding should work during the 2023 session.
They did come to a resolution on a massive education funding boost. But the governor objected to other parts of the budget.
Stitt says lawmakers have “relied on one time revenues” for recurring expenses in a fiscally irresponsible way.
He also objected to lawmakers withdrawing roughly $2 billion out of the state’s savings account.
Had he vetoed the budget, lawmakers were prepared to come back into session to do a veto override.
This isn’t the first time Stitt has battled with lawmakers over the budget.
In 2022, he vetoed part of the budget and called for a special session to end the grocery tax.
And in 2020, Stitt also vetoed the budget bill, which was overridden by state lawmakers.
OKC's Point-In-Time Report Results
The number of people experiencing homelessness appears to be rising in Oklahoma City. Here's details from the city’s 2023 Point in Time count released Thursday.
Census takers identified almost 1,500 people experiencing homelessness in Oklahoma City during the annual January count. Last year’s count found a little more than 1,300.
The point-in-time count is federally mandated and meant to serve as a snapshot of homelessness in the city. It is not a full picture of homeless people in OKC, but offers several insights.
One major problem detailed in the report is a lack of affordable housing in Oklahoma County. The authors write that more than 4,500 units are needed to meet housing demand.
They also found that $50 million in investments by the city toward affordable housing will help ease the burden in years to come. Voters approved that investment as part of the MAPS 4 program in 2019.
Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority Law
A new law gives the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority more ways to test for compliance to state standards.
Gov. Kevin Stitt signed Republican Senator Jessica Garvin’s Senate Bill 813 on Wednesday.
The law now allows the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority to operate its own quality assurance laboratory in addition to contracting with a private lab to conduct compliance testing on medical marijuana businesses licensed in the state.
The new law also creates a petty cash fund for the authority to conduct undercover operations, including providing money for secret shoppers to purchase medical marijuana to prove compliance with the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana and Patient Protection Act.
Cherokee Nation Elections
Election Day is tomorrow for the Cherokee Nation.
Cherokee citizens living in at-large areas and the tribal nation's 14 county reservation will decide whether Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. will keep his job.
Hoskin Jr. says he's running on his record: over the last 3 1/2 years he led the tribal nation through the pandemic, the landmark Supreme Court ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma and has built up the tribal nation's health care system.
His three opponents say his administration lacks transparency and one of them would be better suited for the top job.
"So this group has epically failed to increase the wages for not just our behavioral health, but for all of our health care providers and staff," said former tribal council woman Cara Cowan Watts.
Wes Nofire and David Cornsilk, the two other candidates running for the top job say there needs to be a plan to staff the new hospital the nation is building and more accountability for the $3 billion in COVID-19 relief funds the tribal nation received.
If no candidate for Principal Chief gets more than half the vote, there will be a runoff in.
Polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. It will also include Deputy Principal Chief and several tribal council seats.
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