Many Oklahoma Capitol insiders were expecting a budget deal to be released by legislative leaders and negotiators on Monday. That didn’t happen.
At first, it appeared at least some part of the budget would surface in a Joint Committee on Appropriations and Budget (JCAB) that was originally scheduled for 2:30 p.m. in the Senate after the close of Monday’s floor session. The start time kept getting pushed back.
Legislators have a record amount to appropriate for the next fiscal year, approximately $10.3 billion. However, Governor Kevin Stitt and some legislative leaders suggested that the state budget should remain relatively flat. Savings, tax cuts and state employee pay raises are speculated to be part of the budget.
Last week, Representative Mark McBride, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Education Appropriations, said that the education budget for both K-12 and Higher Education was settled, but he couldn’t speak to the rest of the budget.
The House has scheduled its JCAB meeting for 10:00 a.m. The Senate has scheduled a JCAB meeting for 11:00 a.m. Tuesday morning. Both agendas have 29 budget related bills on the agenda. The House agenda has two additional bills dealing with duties of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services.
