OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The Oklahoma House late Wednesday approved a $7.1 billion budget plan to fund state government and services in the upcoming year.
Just one day after the plan was revealed, the House voted 54-42 for the general appropriations bill that will fund much of state government for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The state Senate is expected to take up the measure on Thursday.
The budget plan taps dozens of agency revolving accounts and other one-time sources of money to ease cuts for state agencies and close a $611 million budget hole. Budget writers diverted about $70 million from a program that funds improvements to county roads and bridges to help close the hole.
A group of Republicans joined the chamber’s Democratic minority in voting against the measure. Voting began about 10 p.m. and the vote remained deadlocked at 47-47 for more than 30 minutes when 51 votes are required to pass the measure in the 101-member chamber.
House leaders kept the voting roll open for more than an hour to give opponents an opportunity to change their vote and pass the measure.
Lawmakers must give final approval to the plan before they are constitutionally required to adjourn on May 29. House Speaker Jeff Hickman, a Fairview Republican, said legislative leaders planned to push that bill and all other pending legislation through and adjourn no later than Friday or Saturday ahead of the long Memorial Day weekend.
Opponents criticized the budget plan because it raids funds from the County Improvements for Roads and Bridges Program for maintenance and repair of rural roads and bridges and reduces appropriations for higher education, the Department of Veterans Affairs and other agencies that provide services to Oklahoma residents.
“We just beat the thunder out of the rural folks,” said Democratic Rep. Jerry McPeak, of Warner.
“We had a $611 million hole. We had to make tough decisions,” said Rep. Earl Sears, a Bartlesville Republican and chairman of the House Appropriations and Budget Committee.
The appropriations measure fills the $611 million shortfall with $120 million from the state’s constitutional Rainy Day reserve fund, $121 million from the Cash-Flow Reserve Fund, $125 million from various agency revolving accounts and $50 million from the state’s Unclaimed Property Fund.
Sears said the budget proposal is about one-half of 1 percent smaller than the current year’s budget of about $7.2 billion. He said the plan provides stable funding or slight increases to what he described as core functions of government including public education, health and corrections and public safety, while trimming the budgets of other agencies by up to 7.25 percent.
“Your priorities are where your dollars are,” Hickman said.
Hickman disputed claims that taking money from the county road and bridge fund will force some projects to be abandoned. Under the budget measure, the fund will be capped at $120 million and provide ample revenue for county transportation improvements.
“Those dollars are there. Those projects are not in jeopardy,” he said. “We will take a backseat to no one on transportation.”
The head of an advocacy group dedicated to funding and restoring Oklahoma’s transportation infrastructure said diverting revenue dedicated to roads and bridges could speed the deterioration of the state’s transportation infrastructure.
“There is a backlog of critical transportation improvement projects on the state and county highway systems still needing to be addressed,” said Neal McCaleb, a former state transportation secretary and president of Transportation Revenues Used Strictly for Transportation or TRUST.
“The members of TRUST recognize this was a difficult budget year, but caution state leaders that diverting motor vehicle fees, gasoline and diesel taxes is a dangerous precedence,” McCaleb said.
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House Bill 2242: https://bit.ly/1dlawNJ
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