The bill containing the agreed upon budget for FY-25 was passed by the Oklahoma Senate on Tuesday by a vote of 31 to eleven.
“This has been an historic process and has brought the budget to light for all Oklahomans to see how we negotiate and come to an agreement,” said Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat, who set up a new budget transparency process this session. At times, that process caused friction with the House budget negotiators. However, it was the first time the negotiations were held in the public eye.
“I am proud of this process and the widespread support it has gotten from everyone involved. I said from the beginning, this process would be difficult. There were starts, stops and bumps in the road. But we were able to give a behind-the-scenes look at how we come to the budget agreement, line-by-line. This budget has been fully transparent and has shown the process from beginning to end. It includes the largest tax cut in state history in the grocery tax that was signed into law earlier this year, helps victims of domestic violence, helps law enforcement and addresses many other issues that will help all Oklahomans, while staying fiscally conservative,” added Treat.
The $12.47 billion budget was settled last week. Lawmakers are putting the legislation through its final steps to send to Governor Kevin Stitt.
Senate Democrat Leader Kay Floyd approved of the increased transparency, but said the minority party was still kept out of the process.
“For years, Senate Democrats have advocated for a more transparent, inclusive budget process. This session, we saw marked improvements in transparency, yet the process still lacked inclusiveness and bipartisanship.
“A flat budget does not create solutions to the growing challenges we face. A bipartisan budget would have provided more funding for our schools, health and mental health care, and other critical services, putting people over politics,” said Floyd.
The measure now heads to the House.
