The Second Session of the 60th Legislature convened Feb. 2 with Gov. Kevin Stitt's final State of the State address.
Because of term limits, this will be the governor's final year in office. During his speech, he took time to look back at work accomplished during his last seven years. He pointed out the Legislature has increased public funding for education more in his term than in the past 25 years combined. At the same time, we've cut taxes by $1.6 billion dollars, allowing Oklahomans to keep more of their own money. We've also diversified our state economy, maintaining one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation.
According to the governor's figures, Oklahoma's median income has increased by nearly $11,000. We've also built state savings from almost nothing to a current balance of about $3.7 billion. We've invested into capital improvements, but we still plan to maintain a healthy amount of reserves to help us weather any downtick in the economy.
While it's always good to hear from the state's chief executive, it ultimately is up to the Legislature to pass bills that will become law and to create a balanced budget each year. Regarding the latter, the State Board of Equalization meets Feb. 13 to certify revenue available for the Legislature to appropriate for state programs and services for Fiscal Year 2027, which starts July 1.
The board in December estimated we will have about $12.05 billion for FY27. This is down slightly from last year, but revenue has been rising. Regardless, we anticipate having a bit of a flat budget year.
That said, we likely will still appropriate historic funding to education, and we'll take care of needs such as construction and maintenance of our infrastructure, public safety, health and mental health care and more.
One priority for the House this session is to improve literacy and ensure students are reading on grade level by the end of third grade. There are a number of bills addressing this.
I have introduced House Bill 3016 to set up a two-year trial for enhanced vision screening for K-3 students. Convergence insufficiency disorder was an issue in our family nearly 25 years ago. Once diagnosed, treatment began and instantly flipped the switch to new reading possibilities for our son. I’m confident this trial will illustrate just how many of our early childhood students suffer from vision issues that our current standard screening does not detect.
Another personal priority is to protect utility ratepayers from upgrade costs for data centers and other high-usage businesses. The goal is to ensure low-cost utility bills for all customers.
Now that session has begun, multiple House committees are meeting to consider advancing legislation. Bills must pass both a policy and oversight committee before they are eligible for consideration on the House floor. We also have bills left over from last session that still can be considered this year. It will be a busy and very interesting session. I'll keep you updated on our progress.
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