OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The Oklahoma Senate on Wednesday approved a $6.8 billion budget proposal to fund state government over the objections of members who say it relies too much on one-time sources of revenue that won’t be available the following year.
The Senate voted 30-16 for the budget bill and sent it to the House, where there is bipartisan opposition but leaders are optimistic they have enough votes to pass it. If the House doesn’t approve the proposal by Friday, lawmakers will have to return for a special session to fund state government for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
“I think we’ve put together a budget that reflects the priorities of the state,” said House Speaker Jeff Hickman, R-Fairview. “I think the House will pass that bill and we’ll be able to wrap up by our deadline on Friday.”
The budget proposal authorizes a $200 million bond issue to pay for road and bridge construction, freeing up $200 million to fund general state operations instead of earmarking it specifically for transportation. That has rankled several Republicans, who say it makes no sense to borrow money and incur interest charges.
Several Republican senators also were disappointed in the lack of further cuts to a state tax subsidy offered to wind energy companies and projected to cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in future years. The Senate approved a bill that would eliminate the tax subsidies for wind energy companies after 2017, but it didn’t pass in the House.
“Wind is causing a tremendous problem for our state and I’m highly disappointed we didn’t see something pass out of the House,” said Sen. Clark Jolley, R-Edmond, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and chief budget negotiator for the Senate.
Hickman said he supported reforming the tax credits for wind but couldn’t get enough votes in the House.
“I thought we had the votes to get that done, but obviously we came up a vote short,” Hickman said. “We tried twice and were unsuccessful twice.”
The Legislature also faced criticism for increasing its own funding at a time when most state agencies are facing steep cuts.
Under the budget proposal, funding to the House and Senate are reduced nearly 20 percent from last year’s revised appropriation, a total of $5.1 million in cuts. But at the same time, legislative leaders increased by $9 million the appropriation to the Legislative Services Bureau, an entity the House and Senate control.
Hickman said the increase will help restore the cuts that were ordered as a result of revenue failures during the current fiscal year. Both Hickman and Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, said the House and Senate have cut positions in recent years.
But David Blatt, director of the Tulsa-based Oklahoma Policy Institute, a think tank that supports additional funding for state services, criticized legislative leaders for increasing their appropriation.
“It is unconscionable that the Legislature is giving itself a huge funding increase while every other area of state government is being cut,” Blatt said. “How do we explain to seniors, those with mental illness and developmental disabilities that their services are being slashed when there’s an added $4 million going to the Legislature?”
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