Lawmakers got their first peek at Oklahoma’s budget last night in a haphazard midnight session senior legislators described as the most disjointed in their career.
House and Senate committee members had mere minutes to review the proposed $6.9 billion dollar budget before voting on two versions of the state spending plan.
The bills are nearly identical. One would give teachers a $1,000 pay raise. Both deliver funding cuts for most state agencies. Sixteen agencies, including the Departments of Education and Transportation, are in line for flat budgets.
In the chaotic House committee meeting, leadership asked members to vote on appropriations without customary budget summaries and detailed spreadsheets.
11:21pm: We now have a budget, but it's 57 pages long and doesn't have a summary. So it's almost impossible to know what's in it.
— Emily Virgin (@EmilyVirginOK) May 24, 2017
I've never seen something like this. We're being asked to vote on the $6.9 billion budget with 10 mins notice and very little consideration.
— Emily Virgin (@EmilyVirginOK) May 24, 2017
Never in my seven years here have I seen anything like this. This is the least transparent budget process I could possibly imagine. 4/
— Mayor David Holt (@davidfholt) May 24, 2017
"You don't know what's in this budget, and I don't know either," says Rep. @ShaneStone89. "This is disgusting."
— Tres Savage (@ThriceSavage) May 24, 2017
After the vote to send the bills to the full House and Senate, a handful of demonstrators yelled as they exited the capitol. Guthrie Republican Jason Murphey leaned against his desk, his shoulders slumped.
"This is the least transparent process that I think I’ve seen in my 11 years here. It’s hard to wrap my head around it."
Shortly after the vote closed just before the midnight deadline, legislators realized: they may have voted on one bill that contained the wrong language.
Word on Senate JCAB is that the House passed the wrong.version of SB0860
— Shawn Ashley (@eCapitol_Shawn) May 24, 2017
Now we've been given a "revised" Fiscal Year 2018 state budget summary. So here's that. pic.twitter.com/iWIKDtFkR9
— Mayor David Holt (@davidfholt) May 24, 2017