The second session of the 59th Oklahoma Legislature ended Thursday afternoon, just one day before the Oklahoma Constitution required it.
This year’s session was a bumpy ride.
The 2024 legislative session, heavy with Republican infighting and infighting between the governor’s office and the Legislature, became a culmination of a year-long debate over income tax cuts and just a handful of major policy issues — all framed against the upcoming presidential election this fall .
Still, despite the controversy, lawmakers developed and passed a $12.47 billion budget that includes a 4.5% tax cut on grocery sales, $1.5 billion in new funding set aside for Oklahoma’s community education system , and added $25 million in additional funding to school funding. formula.
The budget also included $240 million for new engineering and science facilities at the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University, spent $27.6 million on the student waitlist for CareerTech and put $350 million in a new Oklahoma Capital Assets Maintenance and Protection Fund to to cover deferred maintenance. at state properties, state parks, and public colleges and universities.
On Friday, Gov. Kevin Stitt described the session as “productive.” The governor said he was pleased that lawmakers had lowered sales taxes on grocery stores and that criminal justice reform efforts had continued, but he criticized the Oklahoma Senate for not making all his executive appointments confirmed.
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“My job is to nominate the very best Oklahomans,” Stitt said. ‘It’s difficult to find the right people. It’s the Senate’s job to confirm, advise and confirm, I think. As long as they don’t have a criminal background and are generally heading in the right direction. That’s the job. to ensure they are good Oklahomans and meet all qualifications.
Outgoing Senate Pro Tempore Greg Treat said his goal for the 2024 session was to leave the state a better place than when he took office.
“As we conclude another term, it is a time for reflection and looking ahead,” Treat said. “I am confident that I will end my term on a high note and resign my position as pro tem in a spirit of peace and gratitude. “I have always wanted to leave my service in the Senate and the state in a better place than when I took office.”
What’s next? Gov. Kevin Stitt must sign or veto hundreds of bills in the next two weeks
State lawmakers sent more than 430 bills to the governor this session. Stitt has about 15 days to sign, veto or enact the budget bills.
Senate Education Committee Chairman Sen. Adam Pugh said he was also pleased that lawmakers had completed their work — essentially “landing the plane.”
“It was a bit bumpy and maybe some passengers were injured due to some turbulence at times,” he said. “But I will say this: Every morning when I come in, I remind myself that tension is a hallmark of our system. It’s meant to be hard to get things done.”
Pugh said he was happy to see lawmakers reinvesting in education. He pointed to graduation legislation and major revisions to the literacy law as examples of legislation passed this year that would improve the state.
Democrats, however, called the session a missed opportunity.
New Senate Minority Leader Julia Kirt said Democrats wanted to see public education “funded for success.”
“We haven’t seen that with this budget,” Kirt said. “This budget includes half as much new public money as private voucher money, and we must focus on what really matters to children in our school districts across the state.”
Kirt said Oklahoma families were “working too hard and not seeing enough results.”
“That’s why we’re here to support Oklahoma families,” she said. “We’re all exhausted. We know there’s a reason for that, because Oklahoma families are exhausted. We have to keep working to do better for the people of Oklahoma.”
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Legitimation 2024 ends with hundreds of bills to be signed
