As the new year gets underway, work is hectic at the Capitol. Session will begin in less than two weeks and we’re working with staff to get all our bills filed by the Jan. 21 deadline. The House and Senate held their organizational days at the beginning of the month to elect our chamber’s leaders and approve the rules for the upcoming two sessions. Since session was cut short last year by the pandemic, many bills have simply been reintroduced along with new legislation. It’s going to be a busy session.
Budget work takes place year around, and the appropriations subcommittees have begun holding budget hearings to better understand state agency budget requests that were submitted this fall. These meetings provide an opportunity to educate legislators on how the agencies have utilized their budgets to date and their plans for the upcoming fiscal year.
Like all legislative meetings, these are public and ilable on the Senate website at www.oksenate.gov under “Committees” or by clicking the “Live Proceedings” button at the top of the home screen. They can be viewed live and are also archived. Archived videos can be found on the left side of the page.
For the 58th Legislature, I’ll continue serving as the vice chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Education. We started holding our budget hearings with the 11 agencies under our purview last week. Presentations were made by the Dept. of Education, the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability, the Dept. of Libraries, OETA, the Commissioners of the Land Office, the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology, the Physician Manpower Training Commission, the Oklahoma Arts Council, the Oklahoma School of Science and Math, and the Regents for Higher Education. We’ll be meeting with CareerTech on Monday, Jan. 25.
The Legislature’s dedication to public education in Oklahoma is evident through the fact that historically these agencies receive more than half of the total state budget. For FY’21, they were appropriated nearly $3.95 billion of the $7.7 billion state budget.
Last Friday, I met with Lawton and other area school superintendents during a breakfast and legislative panel at the Lawton Hilton Garden Conference Center. We discussed what issues are of importance and concern to them and what issues will be addressed this session. We’re all pleased that teachers and school staff got moved up in the four-phase vaccine plan. This will make our schools safer.
Work on redistricting is ongoing, and the last of the town hall meetings around the state will be completed by the end of the month.
Redistricting is an important responsibility of the state Legislature and it’s important that we get as much public input into the process as possible. After all, this will impact your representation at the state and federal level. We’ve set up an email address at redistricting@oksenate.gov where you can share your thoughts on the process.
Don’t forget you can now register on the state website at www.vaccinate.oklahoma.gov.