Legislative session set to begin
By M. Scott Carter

The Journal Record

OKLAHOMA CITY – Snowstorms or not, the second session of the 52nd Oklahoma Legislature begins Monday at noon. And for the 101 members of the House of Representatives and the 48 members of the state Senate, the biggest issue, by far, will be the $1.3 billion hole in the state budget and exactly how that hole can be fixed.

With lawmakers gathered at the Capitol, Gov. Brad Henry will deliver his final State of the State address at about 12:30 p.m.

And Henry, his spokesman said, will ask the Legislature to work together.

“Governor Henry’s State of the State will address the pending budget crisis we face,” said Henry’s spokesman, Paul Sund.

Henry will note when he first took office in 2003 the state faced what was then the largest budget shortfall in state history, Sund said.

“He will challenge lawmakers to put politics aside and work together for the common good in this time of emergency, just as their predecessors did in 2003,” Sund said. “He will urge lawmakers to be very deliberative as they consider surgical cuts to state programs and be careful not to cut so deeply that they impair Oklahoma's ability to move forward when the economy recovers.”

Sund said Henry also will emphasize “the state is truly facing an emergency that demands the use of Rainy Day funds.”

The governor will have plenty of facts to support his request.

For several months now, state agencies have been forced to reduce their spending by 10 percent. Previously, the cuts were set at 5 percent but continual declines in tax revenue forced officials to double those reductions to 10 percent.

“We hoped we had begun to see the bottom of the recession in Oklahoma last month, but that does not appear to be the case,” state Treasurer Scott Meacham said in December.

Since then, things haven’t improved.

Following an ugly December report by the state Board of Equalization, Meacham said spending cuts would remain a certainty. Since then, many state agencies have started to furlough employees.

Earlier this month, Department of Corrections spokesman Jerry Massie confirmed the DOC would furlough all 4,700 of its employees beginning March 1. Officials at the Department of Career and Technology Education announced a buyout of 19 employees and said they were developing a plan to reduce spending by an additional $1 million. That plan includes layoffs of some CareerTech employees.

Still, lawmakers have tried to remain optimistic.

Last week, Henry, House Speaker Chris Benge and Senate Pro Tempore Glenn Coffee issued a joint media statement saying they would use a combination of targeted cuts and reserve funds to plug the massive hole in the state budget.

Henry said the deal called for the monthly allocation for state agencies to continue at a 10-percent reduction for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends June 30. The governor said he and legislative leaders had agreed to protect priority areas of the budget, including agencies in education, health and public safety.

Those agencies would receive additional appropriations to supplement their budgets and reduce their share of the overall reduction.

 “By accessing reserve funds set aside for times of emergency, we are doing our best to protect priority areas such as education that are so critical to the state’s economic recovery,” Henry said. “Even with the use of those resources, however, we will still have to implement significant reductions to state programs, and unfortunately, Oklahomans will feel the pain of those cuts. Given the magnitude of the crisis we face, there really were no good options available to us.”

Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, said the budget fix would keep the state’s core functions operating. 

“While this budget agreement isn’t entirely satisfactory to any of the parties involved, honorable people with right motives have negotiated in good faith, and we will move forward with caution to engage this budget and on to the 2011 budget,” he said.

Benge said the agreement sets aside about half of the state’s Rainy Day fund for FY 2011.

 “This agreement maintains more than half of our state’s total reserve dollars for fiscal year 2011 and beyond and also puts in place significant and strategic cuts that will reduce the size of government to better match state collections,” Benge, R-Tulsa, said. “This deal is a compromise that was not reached lightly. We worked with the Senate and governor’s office in good faith to do what we believe is the fiscally responsible approach to budgeting over this two-year period.”

But money won’t be the only dish on the Legislature’s plate.

In January, the Senate’s Republican Caucus said they would focus on creating jobs and an overhaul of the workers’ compensation system. The caucus also endorsed the creation of an Office of Accountability and a reduction of the cap on ad valorem tax assessments.

In the House of Representatives, the plan was similar.

“This year, the budget will influence every policy decision we make,” Benge said. “But we cannot use the current shortfall as an excuse to stop the momentum we have seen in recent years. I am confident that despite budget considerations, we will be able to pass meaningful legislation this year that will help grow Oklahoma.”

Benge said House members would focus on reforming education and improving student achievement, promoting a healthy Oklahoma, maximizing Oklahoma’s natural resources, providing safety and security for all Oklahomans, advancing government efficiency and modernization, and strengthening the Oklahoma family