Legislative Update: April 20-26
Most of the work in the weeks ahead will focus on writing the state budget. The session is constitutionally required to adjourn by 5 p.m. on May 26.
Senate Joint Resolution 53 contains a proposed constitutional amendment that would prevent state spending from increasing by more than 6 percent per year plus inflation, unless three-fourths of the members in both the Oklahoma House of Representatives and state Senate voted to lift the cap.
The current constitutional cap is set at 12 percent per year plus inflation.
During the oil boom of the 1980's the Oklahoma Legislature almost tripled state spending in just four years as skyrocketing oil prices filled state coffers to the limit.
However, when oil prices fell, state revenue declined dramatically and state government could no longer pay for the largesse approved during the boom years. As a result, significant tax increases were approved that harmed virtually every citizen of the state.
If the economy slumped, the proposed cap would be based on the largest appropriation approved before the downturn, preventing the so-called "ratchet down" effect.
Senate Joint Resolution 53 would also amend the Oklahoma Constitution to allow legislators to set aside more money in the Constitutional Reserve (or "rainy day") Fund. The Oklahoma Constitution currently caps the amount that can be deposited into the fund at 10 percent of the previous year's general revenue certification. Senate Joint Resolution 53 would increase the cap to 15 percent of the prior-year certification.
If that proposal was in force today, the fund would now hold as much as $700 million, instead $461 million.
If the Legislature approves Senate Joint Resolution 53, the proposed constitutional amendment will then go to a vote of the people. Senate Joint Resolution 53 passed the Oklahoma House of Representatives on a 55-42 vote.
Senate Bill 1693 would install a moratorium on the tax credits for one year to give state officials time to develop a permanent solution to continue the Small Business and Rural Venture Capital Formation Incentive Acts.
The two laws offer 20 to 30 percent state tax credits to people who indirectly invest in small businesses in the state - powerful incentives to encourage investors to risk money on new or expanding businesses. The measures have worked well to stimulate business growth, but within the last year concerns have emerged that loopholes in the programs have cost the state millions of dollars without producing sufficient benefit to the state.
Senate Bill 1675 would place additional funding in the year-old “Oklahoma Strategic Military Planning Commission Incentive Fund,” which allows communities that are home to military bases to apply for matching grants to use for infrastructure and road improvements.
The fund was created last year following the federal government's latest round of the "base realignment and closure" process, also known as BRAC. Under that system, the Pentagon draws up a list of bases its experts believe are no longer needed.
Oklahoma is home to Altus Air Force Base, Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Fort Sill Army Post in Lawton, the Army Ammunition Depot in McAlester, Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, Air National Guard Units in Oklahoma City and Tulsa and the Army National Guard Unit at Camp Gruber.
The Pentagon's list of base closures did not include a single major Oklahoma installation and actually endorsed shifting as many as 10,000 jobs from other parts of the country to Oklahoma.
The appropriation will be used to leverage federal matching funds.
According to records, the combined economic impact of Oklahoma's military installations on the state economy in 2002 was approximately $4 billion. Senate Bill 1675 passed on the House floor by a vote of 97-0 and now returns to the Senate.
Senate Joint Resolution 48 passed on the House floor, paving the way for the Legislature to convene in the state's first capital on November 16, 2007, the first time since 1910.
Guthrie, which had been the territorial capital prior to statehood, was the original location of the Oklahoma Capitol. The town put up $150,000 in 1907 to build the Convention Hall, which was completed in 1908 in time to hold the second session of the 1st Legislature. The first session of the 1st Legislature convened in City Hall in 1907.
The capital was moved to Oklahoma City in 1910. The city built the State Capitol Building for $1.5 million.
SJR 48 passed on the House floor by a vote of 83-3 and now returns to the Senate.
State Rep. Lance Cargill
The state House passed another legislative deadline last week, completing work on Senate bills. There were 534 Senate bills and 13 joint resolutions sent to the House this year for consideration. Most of the bills that have not been killed will now go to conference committees comprised of House and Senate members who will hammer out a final version.