It’s that time of year when negotiations between the House and the Senate begin to break down. It inevitably happens once bills cross to the opposite chamber. It’s an easy way to try to force the hand of a perceived opponent if you can hold their legislation hostage until you get your demands met.

The Senate this year is upset with the House for not releasing budget figures according to their timeline and threatening not to hear any House appropriations bills until they have spreadsheets in hand. The House, however, is asking that a massive mistake on the Fiscal Year 2024 education budget be fixed before we move forward with Fiscal Year 2025 numbers.

The bill in question is House Bill 2673, which the Senate recently amended. The amendments would require the State Department of Education to use formula funds for schools that are currently off formula to pay for teacher pay increases that were part of legislation we passed last year. It includes millions of dollars to my schools in House District 59.

House budget leaders feel it would be improper for the SDE to use formula dollars in this way and instead want to appropriate $20 million in supplemental funding to the schools through the Joint Committee on Appropriations & Budget Committee process.

The Senate, however, has been unwilling to hold a JCAB meeting until they get House budget figures. So, we’re currently at a stalemate.

This is truly unfortunate for the schools that are off-formula, several of which are in our House district. They are waiting on these supplemental funds to make up for the teacher pay raises that were mandated 10 months ago. The Senate’s actions have basically forced an unfunded mandate on these schools.

The Senate is touting their new transparency model this year. They held daylong appropriations meetings and questioned state agencies about budget requests and prior-year spending. This is great as it allows the public to view the whole process if they wish. But it’s important to note the House also does this – has for years and did so again this year. We typically like to get this work done early, however. This year, the Senate took the whole first half of session to accomplish this task, so it’s put us behind.

Negotiations will start again. They do every year after the initial posturing dies down. It’s just frustrating in the meantime for those who are watching the process and those who want to complete our legislative work. I trust budget leaders will find a solution soon and begin to collaborate on what will become the final budget. It’s the one task the Legislature is constitutionally required to do.

Please remember, if I can help you with something, do not hesitate to reach out. You also can follow regular updates on my House Facebook page or call or email anytime at (405) 557-7407 or Mike. Dobrinski@okhouse.gov.