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FKG Legislative Report: May 9, 2010
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Budget Talks Heat Up
There are now three weeks remaining in the 2010 legislative session ― assuming the session does not end earlier than the constitutionally mandated date of May 28th ― and, as always, things are heating up on the budget front. Both houses of the legislature (and their respective party caucuses) have pretty much come to conclusions on what their positions will be concerning agency appropriations and revenue enhancement issues. Predictably, Democrats in both houses are aggressively pushing the majority party to include more revenue-raising measures in their final agreement with the governor. The Democrats have made a series of public announcements in an effort to gain support among interest groups that rely on appropriations for their survival. The Governor has presented a number of revenue-raising measures that are currently being considered by the leadership of both houses.
As of today, the following major items appear to be on the table for discussion. The resolution of those issues will determine what the final state budget will look like and when the legislature adjourns the session sine die.
1) Various revenue raising measures that have either been placed on the table by the governor or have been suggested by legislators. Among the major measures being considered are:
a) Repealing or reducing certain tax credits that are already on the books;
b) Repealing or reducing certain tax incentives that are already on the books;
c) Creating a new Provider Fee for Oklahoma Hospitals;
d) Taking the cap off the existing Quality of Care Fee for the state’s long-term care facilities;
2) A final determination of the amount of Federal Stimulus money that will be tapped this year and how much will be carried over for use in 2011.
3) A final determination of the amount of Rainy Day money that will be tapped this year and how much will be carried over for use in 2011.
4) How to deal with the recent Supreme Court decision regarding ad valorem taxes on intangible property. A working group of educators and business leaders have been meeting in an effort to find a compromise that can be presented to the legislature and the Governor. They have been attempting to find a way to deal with the Court’s ruling while holding businesses and education harmless, and, at the same time, meeting the requirements of the court decision. Their final product will probably be revealed sometime next week.
5) The amount of cuts to current budgets.
6) How to distribute those cuts: either across the board to all state agencies or in differing amounts from agency to agency.
7) Whether to hold education harmless in this round of budget cuts and whether to treat common education, career tech education and higher education the same.
8) How to maximize funding to the Oklahoma Health Care Authority in order to collect as much matching federal money as possible.
While the Governor and legislative leaders debate these issues, the various General Conference Committee on Appropriations (GCCA) subcommittees are meeting to determine the actual budget amounts for the agencies under their purview. The subcommittees have been involved in discussions about how to treat the various agencies that they control, but they must await final decisions by the Governor and legislative leaders before knowing how much actual money they have to spend. There has been a push on the part of the Governor to lesson the blow to agency budgets by adopting some of his revenue raising ideas. House and Senate leaders, on the other hand, want to protect what revenues are available and avoid passing any new taxes or fees this year. So they will probably be amenable to make deeper agency budget cuts in order to balance the overall state budget within the limits of existing revenues.
As could be expected, many interest groups have descended on the Capitol in these final weeks of the session. They are making their case for funding their programs and for the agencies under which they operate. These groups have included education interests, health care interests, senior service interests and many others. Those efforts can be expected to intensify with each remaining day of the session. For that reason, and in order to get home for campaign purposes, most legislators would like to adjourn the session before the constitutionally-mandated date of May 28. Of course, that is always the goal…a goal that is seldom met.
While budget talks continue to dominate the legislature’s attention, non-appropriation bills also are making their way out of conference committees, to the floor of one or both houses and on to the Governor. One bill that has passed both houses and been signed into law is HB 2556. That bill clarifies language dealing with pre-paid wireless telephone 911 fees and establishes a 50-cent prepaid wireless 911 fee per retail transaction or an adjusted amount, to be collected by the seller and remitted to the Oklahoma Tax Commission.
Also signed by the Governor this past week was legislation that provides incentives for restaurants to encourage them to close their designated smoking rooms and become completely smoke free. HB 2774 authorizes the Department of Health to implement a rebate program to reimburse restaurants for 50 percent of the funds expended, minus depreciation costs, in establishing a designated smoking room prior to Nov. 1, 2010. Proceeds generated by the Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Revolving Fund will be used for the rebate program.
Governor Henry announced Friday that he had signed nine bills into law and vetoed one because it contained language duplicative of another bill he already signed this session. The following are among the bills were signed by the Governor:
• HB 2296 modifies experience requirements for certification of school principals and superintendents. It includes a minimum of two years of successful teaching experience in public or private schools accredited by the Board of Education in Oklahoma or the proper accrediting authority of another state of the United States for a principal and a minimum of two years of administrative experience in public or private schools accredited by the Board of Education in Oklahoma or the accrediting authority of another state of the United States for a superintendent. The bill went into effect upon the Governor's signature.
• HB 3240 provides that a person convicted of violating a municipal ordinance relating to driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or another intoxicating substance be ordered to participate in, prior to sentencing, an alcohol and drug substance abuse evaluation and assessment program offered by a certified assessment agency or assessor to evaluate the receptivity to treatment and prognosis.
• SB 2054, the Department of Insurance omnibus bill which makes numerous non-controversial changes to the Insurance Code.
The deadline for filing first Conference Committee Reports has been moved back two days to Wednesday, May 12th. As more reports are filed, the activity on the floor on both sides of the rotunda will be picking up significantly. House members were advised last week that the House may meet Friday, May 14th. The Senate has no plans to meet on Friday, however, both houses are expected to be in session on Friday May 21st and May 28th.
| | Posted on Sunday, May 09, 2010 | | Return |
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