State Agency budget proposals serve as wish lists for projects like building maintenance and software upgrades, new road infrastructure, conservation efforts, and staff trainings, to name a few.
Many of the projects require agencies to request additional funding from lawmakers.
But not always. The Departments of Agriculture, Environmental Quality, and Labor all requested the same amount they received this fiscal year, according to their proposals before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Natural Resources last week.
At $57.1 million, the biggest ask came from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board.
The board's president, Julie Cunningham, said a majority of the money will be used to address some of Oklahoma's water infrastructure needs, which she said total around $24 billion.
"It's a real need," Cunningham said during the Jan. 7 meeting. "We know what the projects are. What we've requested is a modest $50 million in terms of infrastructure construction. Recurring."
She said previous state and federal allocations helped identify and jumpstart the work. But more funding is needed to continue.
"You could certainly use that to leverage federal dollars," She said. "We would propose $10 million for REAP — that's the Rural Economic Action Plan fund. A very, very successful program that a lot of communities really count on."
The Water Resources Board's REAP program offers grants of up to $150,000 to municipalities of 7,000 people or fewer. Priority is given to towns with fewer than 1,750 residents.
Many of those grants go toward constructing or maintaining water and sewer infrastructure.
Cunningham also mentioned a new and similar low-interest loan program. It would require $25 million to jumpstart and would be maintained with a revolving fund.
"We're looking at shorter-term fixed-rate loans there," She said. "And it is a loan. So we really want to see the majority of this come back and be loaned again. And so this would be in perpetuity."
Perry Republican Sen. Chuck Hall filed Senate Bill 1333 to start addressing the issue, Cunningham said. That bill would allow for a one-time investment, rather than a recurring one.
The Senate Appropriations Education Subcommittee also heard from agencies last week.
Here are the total amounts of incremental and supplemental appropriations state agencies requested for the upcoming fiscal year. These numbers represent how much more the agencies are asking for in FY2027 compared to FY2026.
Click the links to access slide presentations with more details:
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Natural Resources:
- Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry: None
- Department of Environmental Quality: None
- Department of Labor: None
- Department of Commerce: $10.8 million
- Water Resources Board: $57.1 million
- Department of Tourism and Recreation: $42.5 million
- Workforce Commission: $7.1 Million
- Oklahoma Historical Society: $1.7 million
- Conservation Commission: $8.7 million
- Department of Mines: $200,000
- Oklahoma State University Veterinary Medicine Authority: $16.3 million
- JM Davis Arms Historical Museum: $2.5 million
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Education:
- Board of Private Vocational Schools: $100,039
- Oklahoma Center of the Advancement of Science and Technology, OCAST: $9.3 million
- Department of Libraries: $2.9 million
- Arts Council: $1.4 million
- Healthcare Workforce Training Commission: $152,916
- Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics: $1 million
Lawmakers have until the end of the legislative session to decide how much money they will appropriate each state agency. Those decisions are largely based on agency requests and state needs, but also on the Oklahoma Board of Equalization's final Fiscal Year 2027 budget certification of available funds come mid-February.
