We are into the second month of session and approaching another deadline. This is the last week to hear Senate bills in our chamber. Next week, we will return to our committees to begin work on House measures.
On Monday morning, we had around 200 more bills to consider including three of my bills, SBs 1527, 1727 and 1815. My six other bills, SBs 1359, 1386, 1454, 1487, 1686 & 1782, have already been passed on to the House. I also have three bills that carried over from last session (SBs 564, 898 & 986) that are awaiting a hearing by the full House.
I have signed on to be the Senate author for eleven House bills – HBs 2008, 3027, 3212, 3259, 3265, 3331, 3841, 3873, 3888, 4005 and 4006.
If you are interested in tracking bills or staying up on what is happening in the Senate, you can visit our website at www.oksenate.gov as well as follow us on Instagram @OKSENATEINFO and Facebook under Oklahoma State Senate. The House also has similar pages. You can sign up to receive press releases, meeting notices and other helpful information.
Our state and nation’s economy are struggling, which is putting a strain on our state revenues. We are looking at a flat budget year, if we are lucky. In December, the State Board of Equalization thought we would have a slight increase in revenue but last month, they confirmed that the legislature will have around $85 million less to spend this year.
Being a balanced budget state, we can only spend as much as the Board certifies, which was $8.2 billion. Another issue is that just over $310 million of those revenues are one-time funds that carried over from the 2019 budget. This means that we will not have that money next session, so we need to proceed carefully in deciding how to use them.
Hopefully, revenues will pick up or stabilize. However, oil prices are sliding, and the coronavirus is playing havoc with the stock market and national economy. If revenues do not meet expectations, then a revenue shortfall may be declared, at which time agencies would have to cut spending based on the percentage of the shortfall.
This is why it is so important to have a diverse economy. Our state depends heavily on the energy sector, and we need to continue working to attract other industries to our state as well as build within industries already here. In order to increase revenue, we have to have a strong workforce.
I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to come to your state Capitol and be a part of the legislative process. Recently, we have had Dr. Kathy Wolff visit our office and SWOSU Mental Health nursing students attended Legislative Nurses’ Day at the Capitol. Christie Rogers and Southwest Technology Center National Technical Honor Society students were among those select individuals from state chapters of the National Technical Honor Society visiting the State Capitol. Then we also had the fourday school week coalition, Farm Bureau members and constituents concerned about abortion issues.
Lastly, pages play an important role in the legislative process. We were pleased to have Altus seniors Kaylah Huerta and Morgan Wheeler page for our office during the second week of session as well as Altus senior Tori Booker and Hobart senior Caden Schaufele who paged during the fifth week of session. These were both extremely busy weeks and their assistance was greatly appreciated. We hope they enjoyed their time at the Capitol and learned more about their state government and the legislative process. Any Juniors or Seniors who would like to be a Senate Page next year, please reach out to my office.
To contact me at the Capitol, please write to Senator Brent Howard, State Capitol, 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd. Room 536, Oklahoma City, OK, 73105, email me at Brent. Howard@oksenate.gov, or call (405) 521-5612.
Sen. Brent Howard represents District 38 in the Oklahoma State Senate.