The First Session of the 60th Legislature has ended.
We started the year by filing 1,928 bills and 29 joint resolutions in the House. Senators filed 1,124 bills and 17 joint resolutions. We finished our session by sending a total of 272 House and 255 Senate measures to governor. To date, he’s vetoed 68 measures. Both chambers voted to override 47 of those, sending them to the Secretary of State to become law.
The governor has yet to act on 21 measures. If he doesn’t sign them, they will be considered pocket vetoed.
We were able to pass some fantastic legislation this year. First, is a quarter-percent income tax cut for the top three tax brackets. We simplified the brackets from six to four with those in the bottom bracket paying zero. We also implemented a plan to get to zero income tax for everyone once certain revenue projections are met to protect core services.
We also removed the 6% markup on retail goods, another unfair tax, and we changed the way excise tax will be calculated on vehicle purchases, which should save consumers some money when they register their vehicles.
We supported public education as well – delivering $26 million in new funding to public schools through the funding formula and more than $67.7 million to higher education for the Oklahoma’s Promise Scholarship, allowing more students to access college if they want. CareerTech also received $9.3 million to accommodate increased enrollment.
The Department of Transportation will receive $610 million directed to the Rebuilding Oklahoma Access and Driver Safety (ROADS) Fund and more than $35.6 million to reach the target ratio of $4,000 per county road mile for all counties. They receive an equal amount to address county bridge reconstruction.
The State Department of Health will receive $706,383 for the RX for OK program, which helps Oklahomans with long-term prescription medication costs to access assistance programs provided by pharmaceutical companies.
We also created revolving funds to help the Military Department make infrastructure and technology upgrades at our state’s military bases with the goal of preventing base closures in the future.
Also signed into law this year is a measure that will improve the initiative petition process, ensuring it’s more fair for voters in rural areas of the state. Rural voters should get a say over state questions that could raise their taxes or change their way of life, and this measure gives them more of a voice.
That’s just a snapshot of the work accomplished this session. We’ll hold interim studies beginning later this summer, and we’ll be working on the state budget for the next fiscal year as well as legislation for our next session.
It’s an honor to serve the folks of House District 38. As always, if I can assist you in any way, please reach out to me at [email protected] or call my office at 405-557-7332.
-John Pfeiffer serves District 38 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. His district includes Grant County and parts of Garfield, Kay, Logan and Noble counties.
