OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — With about $1.3 billion less to spend this year than last, House and Senate Democrats said Tuesday that lawmakers should focus strictly on passing a state budget and end the legislative session early.
The idea received a cool reception from House Speaker Chris Benge, R-Tulsa, who called the idea “shortsighted.” Without support of GOP leaders in the House and Senate, the plan is unlikely to get much traction this legislative session.
Sen. Earl Garrison, D-Muskogee, who proposed the plan to approve the budget and end the session early, said the idea could save the state hundreds of thousands of dollars that could be better spent elsewhere.
“Cutting the session short would allow us to bypass these wasteful practices and allow us to concentrate on fixing the problems related to this budget crisis,” Garrison said. “People are tired of legislators doing nothing while their families are hurting, and this sends the right message that we want to get our job done in an efficient manner.”
More than a dozen House and Senate Democrats — including State Rep. Jerry McPeak, D-Warner — appeared with Garrison to endorse the proposal.
But with plenty of work left to do crafting a budget for the next fiscal year that begins July 1 and with final revenue certification still a week away, Benge indicated the proposal had a dim future.
“Their plan to shorten session is shortsighted and would require us to do nothing but slash the budget and run,” Benge said in a statement. “The people sent us here to make tough decisions, and we intend to do so.”
Senate President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee said the plan was a “laudable goal,” but not realistic this year given the uncertainty of the revenue picture through the end of the fiscal year June 30.
It costs the House and Senate an additional $117,000 each week the Legislature is in session, according to figures provided by House and Senate staff. Lawmakers receive mileage reimbursement, and those who live outside a 50-mile radius receive $150 in per diem each day for food and lodging, according to Senate Chief of Staff Tom Walls.
Lawmakers typically meet for four months each year from the first week in February until the last Friday in May.
In other action at the state Capitol Tuesday, a Senate committee approved a bill to eliminate the sales tax on groceries once state revenues return to where they were before the economic downturn. The bill would cost the state an estimated $406 million annually, but would not take effect until the state’s economy returned to pre-downturn levels, said Senate author Jay Paul Gumm, D-Durant.
That may not be any time soon, according to preliminary budget figures released Tuesday.
State Treasurer Scott Meacham reported state revenue collections improved slightly in January, but still trailed both prior year collections and estimates for a 13th consecutive month. Meacham reported general revenue collections in January were about 17 percent below the prior year and nearly 21 percent below Oklahoma Tax Commission projections.
