Gov. Kevin Stitt and House Republican leadership announced the following highlights this week of their proposed budget:

SAVINGS

• $200 million in Oklahoma’s savings account, putting Oklahoma on the path to storing two months of expenses, more than $1 billion, to protect core services in difficult times.

EDUCATION

$200 million for public education across the spectrum:

• $155 million for common education:

• $1,200 teacher pay raise, to include public school teachers working at the Department of Corrections, Schools for the Blind and Deaf, and the Oklahoma Juvenile Affairs;

• $5.5 million for the Reading Sufficiency Act, fully funding the third-grade reading initiative for the first time in state history;

•An additional $70 million for local schools to use to hire additional teachers, counselors, social workers or address their unique needs in their districts.

• $18 million for career tech centers to increase compensation for staff and teachers

• $28 million for higher education to bolster research programs and provide a salary increase for college teachers

• Graduate Medical Education funding for physician residency programs for Oklahoma’s teaching hospitals.

AGRICULTURE AND RURAL OKLAHOMA

• $500,000 to fund a public-private partnership to maintain clean water in Northeast Oklahoma and areas with high poultry density

• $90,000 to hire an additional state veterinarian

• $1.1 million for wildfire mitigation funding and additional resources for rural fire fighters

• $1.5 million to improve rural flood control dams

GOVERNMENT MODERNIZATION

• Funding prioritization for an additional state employee pay raise, building upon the state employee pay raises given in FY’2019 of up to $2,000 per employee.

• $15 million for digital transformation of state government services to enhance transparency and make customer service more efficient and effective

• $1.7 million for the creation of a legislative budget oversight office/LOFT

• $700,000 to hire more auditors and increase the State Auditor’s office capability to conduct more regular audits across state agencies

ROADS AND BRIDGES

• Fully funding Oklahoma Department of Transportation’s 8-year plan

• Restored $30 million in funding to CIRB supporting county roads

PUBLIC SAFETY

• Funding prioritization for two new trooper academies, putting an estimated 80 more troopers on the roads in 2020.

• $16 million for a 14% pay raise for current correctional officers and to hire additional correctional officers

• $1 million to reduce the backlog of untested rape kits

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

• $15 million to reform the funding of District Attorney offices

• $10 million for Smart on Crime programs through the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services

• $1.5 million for the Women in Recovery diversion program

• $1.7 million to address increasing demand for mental health services

JOBS / ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

• $19 million for the Quick Action Closing Fund, prioritizing recruitment opportunities to grow Oklahoma

• $1 million for additional job growth and economic development specifically in the automotive industry and in aerospace through the Department of Commerce’s Aerospace Commerce Economic Services (ACES) program

• $1 million to assist new entrepreneurs and small business innovators through the Oklahoma Center for Advancement of Science and Technology

• $5.3 million to modernize and expedite the Oklahoma Corporation Commissions’ permit processing for energy development

HEALTH CARE

• $62.8 million for the Graduate Medical Education program to support physician training for rural hospitals

• $105 million reallocation to increase provider rates for physicians, hospitals and nursing homes

• $29 million saved to a new stabilization fund to preserve Medicaid provider rates when the federal government’s 3-year rolling average results in a rate decline.

• $10 million to decrease the Developmental Disability Services wait list and increase provider rates

• $4.6 million to increase immunizations and staff county health departments throughout the state