Still Working On the Budget

Capitol Considerations: 

A Weekly Column by Senator Micheal Bergstrom

     Believe it or not, the Oklahoma State Senate has not yet fixed all of our budget problems. However, several budget bills are being considered.

     Even though all options are still on the table, the solution will likely be a combination of new revenue streams, tax credit reform, agency efficiencies and apportionment reform. What that means is we are trying to find a bunch of money and get control over the money we are already spending. We are working hard to craft a budget which minimizes the impact of budget cuts on core services like education, public safety, health care and transportation. I think we’re moving in the right direction to create reforms to provide stability in the budget, but our work isn’t finished yet.

     Here is some of what we have done. House Bill 2343 is expected to increase compliance with state sales tax law and generate approximately $17 million in revenue. HB 2344 lowers the cap on the state film tax credit from $5 million to $4 million and the House this week also approved SB 170, which eliminates the “income tax cut trigger.” This means, if the governor signs it, there will not be another income tax cut.

     House Bill 2298, which was signed by the governor, ends future income tax credits for wind production. Current law allows owners of wind turbines that begin operation before 2021 to claim a credit on the income earned from energy production. Now with the governor’s signature, the new law will do away with wind tax credits beginning July 1.

     We are still focused on finding a way to fund teacher pay raises and get more money into classrooms, but with revenue sources limited, it’s a tough task. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved HB 1114 last week, which would give a $1,000 pay raise for teachers during the 2017-18 school year, a $2,000 raise during the 2018-19 school year, and a final $3,000 raise during the 2019-20 school year. We have not currently identified a way to fund this raise. Hopefully, over the next five weeks, we will be able to pull together a budget that works for the citizens today and lays the groundwork for the future.

     While we worked on the state budget and other important issues this week, we also had to grapple with the death of Representative David Brumbaugh last Saturday. Representative Brumbaugh lived in Broken Arrow and served House District 76 since 2010 and was a well-respected and dedicated legislator. On Thursday, we delayed Session to honor him as his body was carried by the state troopers to the Capitol rotunda where he lay in state. He will be greatly missed.

     His passing is a reminder to each of us that we are on earth for only a brief time and should do the best we can with the time we have. 

     I am interested in feedback from my constituents, so if you have any questions or comments, please email me at bergstrom@oksenate.gov. My office can also be reached by phone at 405-521- 5561.

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2nd Amendment Bills & More From Week 10

Capitol Considerations: 

A Weekly Column by Senator Micheal Bergstrom

We just completed our tenth legislative week and it’s hard to believe we’ve already passed the halfway mark on the session calendar.

On Monday, my first bill was signed into law by Gov. Mary Fallin and will go into effect later this year on November 1. Senate Bill 36 is a language clean-up bill to eliminate confusion and bring Oklahoma in line with federal definitions by adding the definition of the term "handgun" to the Firearms Act. It didn’t change any firearm laws, but just updated terms in statute. The bill also adds definitions to the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act.

I also authored SB 40, which relates to the felony pointing of a firearm. Currently, the law states that it is a felony to point a weapon at another person. This bill added the words “except in an act of self-defense.”

The reason for SB 40 is that if you are defending yourself by drawing your weapon against someone who is threatening you and you don't shoot that person, you can be charged with a felony. This has actually happened in Oklahoma.

Representative Bobby Cleveland is carrying the bill in the House.

This bill also added armed security guards and private licensed investigators into the already exempted law enforcement officers who may be called upon to pull their weapons in the course of their job duties.

SB 84, also one of my bills that is over in the House, deals with probationary promotion of third graders who fail the third grade reading test. The bill requires school districts to report certain information so that student progress can be followed, to help evaluate the success of the program which is part of the Reading Sufficiency Act.

An important bill, that is not one of mine, is HB 1693, the A-F school grade bill.  It creates a new and improved school accountability system and establishes the framework for one that is more useful and reliable and repeals the old system. The measure is now out of the Senate Appropriations Committee and heading to the Senate floor.

On Monday, the Senate also approved HB 2298, which moves up the sunset date of the zero-emissions (also commonly known as wind) tax credit to July 1, 2017. Many will argue that this tax credit accomplished what was intended, as it helped launch wind energy in Oklahoma, as is evident by the state’s rank of third in the nation for wind power, but with the massive budget hole, it made sense to sunset this credit earlier than originally planned.

Unfortunately we have not passed any kind of cap on the wind tax credits that will remain for another ten years, which means the state will likely be on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars to the wind industry each year.

The bill is now headed to the governor’s desk for review.

I am interested in feedback from my constituents, so if you have any questions or comments, please email me at bergstrom@oksenate.gov. My office can also be reached by phone at 405-521- 5561.

Surprises and Gratitude

Capitol Considerations

A Weekly Column by Senator Micheal Bergstrom

Some Thoughts on Surprises and Gratitude

I have often been asked what I’ve been surprised by since I took office in November. Usually I say I haven’t had any real surprises; the process is about what I expected and I had a pretty good idea of what I was signing up for.

But there have been a few surprises.

In my last column, I suggested the budget crisis is worse than the one last year. Six months ago the revenue shortfall was projected at about $600 million. In a conversation with the Governor a week before the State Board of Equalization (BOE) released its December forecast, she suggested the shortfall might be lower than that.

Then the BOE projected an $868 million shortfall. I contend the real number may be much higher.

That was a surprise.

It was no surprise to me that agencies tend to become fiefdoms. In some ways that is legitimate. If an agency is doing a good job, meeting real needs of the citizens, it’s the director’s job to fight to keep the agency on track.

Unfortunately, agency heads often seem to think that their job is to continually expand and build their own personal power bases. I’ve heard talks about department heads whose attitude are, “Senator, you’re term limited and I’m not. I’ll be here long after you’re gone.”

Ask an agency head for help in carefully whittling a budget, rather than just giving the department a straight cut and the answer seems to always be, “We can’t cut anywhere. You’re just going to have to raise revenue.”

Then don’t be surprised if the department head releases a memo that will get into the press crying out like Chicken Little that the sky is falling, the agency is under attack, horrible suffering will soon follow and it’s all the legislature’s fault.

The degree of unwillingness of agencies to be transparent, honest in their dealings with legislators, and cooperative in the process, is a problem.

That was a bit of a surprise.

There is a serious budget deficit this year, there are those who are entrenched in agencies and elsewhere who see defending their fiefdoms as a war that must be won no matter the cost, but there are also so many things that I have found I must be grateful for.

And I am truly grateful.

There are the legislators I have gotten to know, many of whom have helped me, prayed for me and been a blessing. There are those in my district who have allowed me the privilege of being a senator. There are those who contact me to offer support and those who vehemently disagree with me, but whose arguments force me to think and analyze my positions. There is this Capitol building that I look at each morning on my way in, often telling myself something like, “This is so cool.”

There are the agencies I need to understand, and work with to serve our citizens, and be frustrated by at times.

And there is the budget that I have the chance to have a small part in addressing.

There have been a few surprises, and I am grateful for each of them.

I am interested in feedback from my constituents, so if you have any questions or comments, please email me at bergstrom@oksenate.gov.  My office can also be reached by phone at 405-521-5561.