Oklahoma Budget Passes Senate, Some Important Highlights

Capitol Considerations 

by Senator Micheal Bergstrom

      

Budget Reflects Education Spending Increase

Less than 16 months ago the state of Oklahoma was facing a billion dollar revenue shortfall. Much of our time in the Senate was spent searching for a way to pay the state’s bills. One of my top priorities during my campaign had been to push for a teacher pay raise. I filed a bill to that effect, but as our budget numbers got worse, just keeping education from taking a budget cut became the immediate priority.

On the Senate floor on Wednesday, April 25, we passed the budget for fiscal year 2019. Revenue measures that were passed this session and the fact that our state’s economy has now recovered from the most recent recession put us in a position to give teachers the largest pay raise in state history and increase funding to the Department of Education by almost 20 percent, making this by far the largest education budget in state history. Fifty-one percent of appropriated dollars go to common education.

For the Republican caucus, this is a major success.

For Oklahoma’s children, this is important.

We once again made textbooks a line item. We raised the salaries of education support personnel. We expanded our funding for high school students who concurrently enroll in higher education.

We have accomplished much in this budget.

In addition, there is:
· $24.6 million funding increase for the Department of Human Services (DHS), which makes the Pinnacle Plan “whole.” (Hopefully moving us forward to the point where we can be released from court oversight.) This includes the following:

ü 7 percent increase for Medicaid Advantage waiver, Developmental Disability and Group Home rate increases

ü 5 percent increase on foster care and adoption rates

ü $2 million increase for the DDSD wait list (which will provide services for approximately 170 people)

· $11 million in criminal justice reform initiatives:

ü $5 million to Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services

ü $1.1 million to Oklahoma Indigent Defense System (OIDS)

ü $1 million to District Attorney’s Council

· $2 million for agency performance audits conducted by Agency Performance and Accountability Commission

· $4.8 million to Department of Corrections to implement an electronic offender management system

· $4 million to Office of Emergency Management for disaster relief (which includes $400,000 to Department of Agriculture for rural fire fighters)

When I found out the Department of Libraries had lost more than $140,000 this year because of federal claw-backs and loss of matching funds, I requested a $125,000 budget increase which should result in the Department picking up an additional $150,000 in federal matching grants. That was added to the budget.

As mentioned earlier, we have budgeted $2 million for forensic audits of state agencies. This is important. The plan is to audit every agency with a forensic audit about once every four or five years. We need to find out where waste exists and get rid of it. This is an important step forward.

The budget now goes to the House.

-30-