Bills have been signed, the budget has passed, and the 2022 legislative session is officially adjourned. It was a busy one as we diligently worked to continue our rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, approved legislation to diversify our economy and invested in critical needs across the state.
One of our focuses this year was working to improve healthcare across the state, particularly in rural Oklahoma. You may remember when voters narrowly approved State Question 802 in 2020, the Medicaid population was expanded to include low-income citizens ages 19 to 64 who earn no more than 133 percent of the federal poverty level. To better serve this population of enrollees, we approved a managed care framework this session, which will increase Medicaid provider rates and shift the system to focus on achieving better health care outcomes. The increased provider rates are a big deal for rural Oklahoma hospitals – typically, rural hospitals have a higher population of Medicaid patients, so this increased funding will help keep these hospital doors open in our small towns across the state.
We talk a lot about wanting our state to be “Top 10,” but we are nowhere near the top when it comes to our health care outcomes. We are among the highest in the nation when it comes to diabetes, heart disease and other serious medical conditions. I’m very hopeful that by instituting a managed care system, we will focus less on tests and other fee-for-services procedures and more on healthier outcomes for patients.
We also approved $55 million of our American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to go towards addressing the nursing shortage across the state – a shortage that was exasperated by the COVID-19 pandemic. These dollars will be used to establish grant programs for some of our state’s colleges, universities and CareerTech centers to expand nursing programs, create new ones and invest in nursing scholarships. Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) in Weatherford will receive about $10 million of these funds.
We also approved additional funding for senior nutrition programs and Meals on Wheels, which will have a positive impact on our senior centers and rural areas.
I’m thrilled to share that we made major investments in public safety this session, approving a 30 percent pay raise for our Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers and Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) agents. Non-physician personnel like death investigators, chemists, forensic toxicologists and pathology assistants within the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will also receive a pay bump to bring their respective salaries inline with the regional averages for those positions.
While this general session is wrapped up, we are also in a “special session” with no specific deadline to adjourn, for the purpose of spending our ARPA dollars. The Joint Committee on Pandemic Relief Funding has thoroughly vetted hundreds of proposals that were submitted, and we’ll continue working to identify the projects that will receive funding.
It’s a true pleasure to represent our shared values at our state Capitol, and if there’s anything I can do to help you, please reach out. You can contact me by email at Darcy.Jech@oksenate.gov or by phone at 405-521- 5545.