Budget Deal on the Horizon, Senate Leadership Change Could Delay Negotiations
Oklahoma lawmakers are reportedly close to reaching a budget deal.
But a shake-up in Senate fiscal leadership could impact negotiations.
House Speaker Charles McCall says he thinks the two chambers could agree upon budget appropriations for fiscal year 2025 as soon as this week.
"I really hope to get a budget deal done this week. I think we're very close. There's only about three areas, four areas of the budget that there's just not quite agreement on. And hopefully we can work through those," McCall said.
Those areas of disagreement include common and higher education funding, an income tax cut and some deferred maintenance projects at universities, parks and other public spaces.
Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat replaced his chief budget negotiator with the House Tuesday. The move is expected to delay budget talks past this week.
'Government Overreach': Stitt Vetoes Groundwater Monitoring Bill
Gov. Kevin Stitt has vetoed a bill that would have required farmers, ranchers and other commercial irrigators to track how much water they pull from Oklahoma’s aquifers.
Oklahoma already limits how much groundwater commercial wells can use.
But currently, irrigators self-report on a form each year, and the state doesn’t have a good way to double-check.
Although overuse is a concern, lawmakers say they think many irrigators actually use less than they report, for fear they’ll have their limit lowered otherwise.
Rep. Carl Newton and Sen. Brent Howard authored House Bill 3194, which would have required more accurate monitoring and documentation of groundwater use.
Both lawmakers are from Western Oklahoma, where most communities rely on aquifers for their water.
The bill landed on the Governor’s desk last week. But Stitt vetoed it for what he calls “government overreach at its finest.”
Now it’s up to the legislature to overturn the Governor’s veto, if they so choose.
Satanic Temple Plans To Participate In Proposed School Chaplain Program
The Satanic Temple is looking to participate in a school chaplain program, should the measure pass the state legislature.
State Superintendent Ryan Walters has supported the bill but took to social media to warn off the religious group.
Senate Bill 36 would allow districts to employ chaplains or accept them as volunteers to provide support, services and programs for students.
The Satanic Temple’s founder, Lucien Greaves, said it will be participating in the program if it passes.
In response, State Superintendent Ryan Walters posted Wednesday, “Satanists are not welcome in Oklahoma schools, but they are welcome to go to hell.”
Greaves said while The Satanic Temple would rather schools just adequately staff qualified professional counselors for student support, if the bill passes, his federally recognized religion has the same rights as any other.
"You can’t simply advocate for bringing religions in school and then tweet out later that one specific religious group isn’t allowed," Greaves said. "That’s not how legislation is made, that’s not how laws are passed. You can’t change the Constitution by fiat from Twitter."
The bill is waiting to be heard in the Senate.
Oklahoma Has A New State Legume: The Soybean
Oklahoma has a new state legume: the soybean.
The bean now joins the ranks of the strawberry - the state’s fruit - and watermelon - the state’s vegetable as a new state symbol.
It all started with a few teachers, including Amber Bales - a fourth-grade educator who is heavily involved in the Oklahoma Agriculture in the Classroom Program.
After seeing other items being added to the state’s symbol list, they decided to try a campaign to make the soybean the state’s legume.
Bales said she incorporated this process into teaching about the legislative process, soybeans, their importance and perseverance.
“Well, for my students, and they are very well versed, my firm belief is that everyone should know where their food, fiber and fuel comes from. And when you do that, you are showing respect to a lot of people and how that is,” Bales said.
For her, it’s exciting for the bill to become law because this project has been three years in the making and they did not know if it would be heard or even signed.
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