Governor Kevin Stitt’s budget summit brought together legislative leaders on Monday to address the schism between the House and Senate on the next state budget. Stitt invited budget negotiators to join him to publicly discuss the budget.
There were tense exchanges from time to time, however, the group did agree to use $45 million to help areas affected by the recent tornado outbreak which left four people dead in Oklahoma.
Stitt said his goals were to give Oklahomans an income tax cut, make sure reoccurring expenses are in line with revenues, and to maintain state savings.
House Speaker Charles McCall and House Appropriations and Budget Committee Chairman Kevin Wallace pushed Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat on how the Senate would approach the tax cut proposal. Treat held firm saying the grocery tax cut passed at the beginning of the session was the only tax cut the Senate would consider.
Last week, Treat dismissed Senator Roger Thompson as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. It was reported that it was because deals were made outside of the Senate’s new budget transparency process, in effect resetting the budget talks.
After discussion details of the education related budget, House leaders wanted to know if something that was agreed to during the summit, would those agreements be upheld by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittees. The group decided to let those meetings happen and meet again on Thursday afternoon to discuss what progress was made.
Lawmakers have until May 31, 2024, to complete the regular session with a balanced budget.
You can watch the Budget Summit below.
