Oklahoma State Senate
Senator Micheal Bergstrom
Senate District 1
November 7, 2017
Statesmanship Please
Capitol Considerations by Senator Micheal Bergstrom
Capitol Considerations by Senator Micheal Bergstrom
What
should have been an opportunity for statesmanship has spiraled into a comedy of
politics. The Senate, once again, is trying to fix that.
After
the Oklahoma Supreme Court overturned the cigarette fee that was passed by the
legislature last session, the state found itself in a $215 million budget hole
with three agencies (Department of Mental Health
and Substance Abuse Services, the Oklahoma Healthcare Authority and the Department
of Human Services) facing a more
than $70 million budget shortfall each.
The
governor called the legislature into special session not only to fill the
shortfall but to tackle other issues including a teacher raise, sales tax on
commercial vehicles, and ways to avoid future budget failures.
Okay.
Next
the governor laid out a “Grand Bargain” with a myriad of tax increases while
offering no real efficiencies or spending cuts.
It
was a disaster.
After
weeks of negotiations, the House and Senate leadership came up with what has
been termed the “A-plus Budget Proposal,” which includes a $1.50 tax increase
on cigarettes as well as increased taxes on other tobacco products, a six cent
per gallon increase on motor fuels, a raising of the gross production tax (GPT)
on oil and gas from two to four percent. There are also budget cuts for many
agencies in the package.
The
House asked the Senate to request the House run the package, which includes
teacher pay raises next year.
The
Senate passed a resolution requesting the House run the package.
Following
an interesting round of musical chairs in its JCAB (House Joint Committee on
Appropriations and Budget), where multiple members walked the vote (walked away
and didn’t vote) and nearly all Democrats voted nay, the House failed to pass
the revenue bill out of committee.
The
Department of Human Services (DHS) announced that the budget failure will force
them to discontinue programs that help keep the elderly and those with
developmental disabilities in their homes, and it has been discovered that the
Department of Health has basically been running two sets of books and deceiving
everyone about its fiscal condition. It now needs another $30 million.
So
what happened next?
The
House offered proposals that will use all of the state’s emergency funds and
will leave us with a more than $600 million hole to fill in the next budget. It
also doesn’t fix the funding issue at the Health Department.
We,
in the Senate, decided to act like statesmen and stateswomen.
Despite
the fact that many of us have issues with various aspects of the A-plus plan,
we amended a bill the House had sent us previously with the language of the
A-plus revenue bill with a truly bipartisan vote and we sent it back to the
House asking them to put it up on the board and vote on it.
As I write this afternoon, the House has run the original bill in their JCAB committee earlier and voted 19-6 to put it up for a vote on the floor. I hope that is what happens.
I welcome your questions and
concerns, so please feel free to contact my office at the State Capitol if you
would like to discuss a particular issue or problem. Our office can be reached by phone at
405-521-5561 or by email at bergstrom@oksenate.gov. If you visit the Capitol, we are located in
Room 527A.
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