TRANSCRIPT
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Dick Pryor: This is Capitol Insider - taking you inside politics, policy, and government in Oklahoma. I'm Dick Pryor with Quorum Call publisher, Shawn Ashley. Shawn, it's May, the final month of the legislative session. Now, lawmakers generally like to adjourn before Memorial Day, so that means there could be just a couple of weeks left, and it's been remarkably quiet about the budget. Where do state budget negotiations stand?
Shawn Ashley: It's hard to say exactly. House Speaker Kyle Hilbert and Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton said Thursday that their teams are working well together and making progress. But the only way we have to measure that is the House of Representatives Budget Transparency Portal, which compares agency requests to propose funding levels from each chamber. It currently shows a $1.1 billion difference between the House and the Senate, and that's a pretty big gap to overcome.
Dick Pryor: You mentioned that portal. In the last few years, there's been a push to increase transparency in the budget process, in part to help members of the legislature stay informed about the status of budget bills. So how is that working out this year?
Shawn Ashley: During the 2024 legislative session, then President Pro Tem Greg Treat required everything be done in public, including the final negotiations for funding state agencies and even specific programs within those agencies. Paxton and Senate Appropriations Chair Chuck Hall said those meetings became kind of a circus and have pulled back from that. Now state agencies outlined their budget request in public hearings in the House and Senate back in December and January. And Senate subcommittees held public meetings to discuss their recommendations to the full Senate Appropriations Committee in February and early March. But since then, the doors have pretty much been closed. Paxton said Thursday he plans to make sure the bills implementing the budget are available 48 to 72 hours before they are voted on. Even last year, we sometimes did not see a bill until the afternoon before lawmakers were going to vote on it the next morning. So that's a plus. But it's not as good as being in the room where the budget happens.
Dick Pryor: You always want to be in the room. So even if legislators get to see the budget two or three days before the vote, how much time does that really leave them to debate it and make any substantive changes?
Shawn Ashley: Not a lot. The bills will go through the Joint Committee on Appropriations and Budget, both there and on the House and Senate floors they cannot be amended. As former House Minority Leader Emily Virgin liked to stress, the budget outlines the priorities for the state. Those will be set by the House, Senate, and Governor Kevin Stitt's budget negotiators, and there really is not an opportunity for rank-and-file members, and particularly Democrats who are not part of those negotiations to change them.
Dick Pryor A bill to change the initiative petition process in Oklahoma is now in the Senate. How does that process work, and what is this bill designed to do?
Shawn Ashley: Article 2, Section 1 of the Oklahoma Constitution states “all political power is inherent in the people.” And the process that allows citizens to collect signatures to place a new statute or constitutional amendment on the ballot, a state question, is outlined in state statutes written by the legislature. And for the most part, if it's in statute, the legislature can change it. That's what Senate Bill 1027 proposes to do. It limits the number of petition signatures that can be collected in each county and requires signature gatherers to be Oklahoma voters, disclose if they are being paid, and if so, by whom. And the bill also requires all funds to pay those collecting signatures come from within Oklahoma. House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, who carried the bill in the House, said it would increase rural voter participation in the petition process and provide additional integrity to the system.
Dick Pryor: What's the likely outcome of that bill if it becomes law?
Shawn Ashley: According to Democrats, it will result in lawsuits because the courts have already found some of the limits on signature gathering and funding unconstitutional, and the signature limits could prevent future petitions from being able to obtain enough signatures to make the ballot. But Hilbert said future petitions will include more rural Oklahomans and the system will work better. We really won't know until the first petition is filed, if it becomes law.
Dick Pryor: What's coming up over the next few days?
Shawn Ashley: Lots of floor work as they consider amendments that were approved by the opposite chamber.
Dick Pryor: Thank you, Shawn.
Shawn Ashley: You're very welcome.
Dick Pryor: For more information, go to quorumcall.online. You can find audio and transcripts at KGOU.org. And look for Capitol Insider where you get podcasts. Until next time, with Shawn Ashley, I'm Dick Pryor.
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