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. Budget hearings are continuing at the State Capitol. Shawn, what are agencies requesting as we near the start of the legislative session?
Shawn Ashley: Well, really there have been three common requests. First, funding for legislative mandates. Agencies are telling lawmakers they need money to do the things that the legislature has told them to do. The Office of Management and Enterprise Services, for example, provides IT services for most state agencies, and it says it needs $821,000 to fully fund its Microsoft Office 365 subscription. Which provides the basic word processing spreadsheets and other programs that really everyone uses.
The second common request is funding for employee pay increases. A state study indicates that on average, state employee salaries are nearly 9% below the competitive labor market, but some individual jobs are significantly below the market. And so agencies are looking to bring those closer to market level.
And then finally, there's the loss of federal funding. Some agencies have already lost federal funding and anticipate losing more. Others are on the lookout for future federal funding cuts. The Office of Emergency Management, for example, has lost funding from two programs that cover 97% of its operational cost. If that funding is not restored by the state, the agency will no longer be able to make payroll beginning August 1st.
Dick Pryor: And Shawn, we should note the gap between what agencies are requesting and what legislators have available to spend is large this year.
Shawn Ashley: It really, really is. State agencies are requesting more than $1 billion in additional spending, but lawmakers and the governor have $625 million less to appropriate due in large part to the cash reserves that they have spent over the last several years.
Dick Pryor: Legislators will have to sort through more than 5,000 bills and joint resolutions when they began work on February 2nd, but we already know one of the earliest bills they will be considering.
Shawn Ashley: Senator Todd Gollihare announced Wednesday and Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton's office confirmed that Gollihare’s Senate Bill 743 will be put up for a floor vote during the first week of the session. Now, the bill amends an existing law and modifies the punishment for disturbing a religious meeting by providing a fine of not more than $500 and imprisonment up to one year for a first offense. Second and subsequent offenses are a felony with more serious punishments. And of course, this comes after the incident we saw in Minnesota, and Gollihare points to experiences he has had. Now, this is one of those carryover bills that we've talked about. It passed the House in 2025, and now needs just that Senate floor vote to head to Governor Stitt’s desk for consideration.
Dick Pryor: A joint resolution of note was filed by House Appropriations and Budget Chair Trey Caldwell of Faxon. If approved, it would put to a vote of the people a state question that would amend the Constitution to require funds from the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, that's TSET, to fund college scholarships and to be transferred to the 1017 Fund for education. What are TSET funds legally required to be used for?
Shawn Ashley: Voters created TSET in 2000 to invest the money from the settlement agreement with tobacco companies and use the earnings to improve Oklahoman's health. They've done that by funding a wide range of projects, from scientific research to promoting healthy eating and physical activity. But what voters create, voters can change, but it takes a constitutional amendment to do that, like the one chair Caldwell has proposed.
Dick Pryor How are the Oklahoma's Promise Scholarship Program and 1017 Fund funded now?
Shawn Ashley: Oklahoma’s Promise is funded from income tax revenue that otherwise would go to the general revenue fund, about $70 million annually. The House Bill 1017 fund receives revenue from nine different taxes and revenue sources. And that amounts to about $1.1 billion per year. If this change is enacted, obviously the TSET earnings could cover the Oklahoma's Promise, but not fully fund the House Bill 1017 Fund.
Dick Pryor: All right, thank you, Shawn.
Shawn Ashley: You're very welcome.
Dick Pryor: For more information, go to quorumcall.online. You can find video of Capitol Insider segments on the KGOU You Tube channel. Audio and transcripts are at kgou.org. And look for Capitol Insider where you get podcasts. Capitol Insider is produced by KGOU program director Jim Johnson, who recently received the Governor's Media in the Arts Award from the Oklahoma Arts Council. Congratulations, Jim. Until next time with Shawn Ashley, I'm Dick Pryor.
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