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Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Rogers County legislators talk budget angst at last 'Eggs & Issues' of session
Members of Rogers County's state legislative delegation came to Claremore April 18 for their last "Eggs & Issues" discussion this session. Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore, and Reps. Mark Lepak, R-Claremore, and Derrick Hildebrant, R-Catoosa, spoke at Will Rogers Memorial Museum about the state's budgetary concerns and bills they and their colleagues are carrying. Lepak said budget pressure is beginning to mount. In the Claremore Area Chamber of Commerce's first Eggs & Issues this session, Seifried said lower revenue from the grocery sales tax cut and potentially higher Medicaid costs mean Oklahoma has fewer chips to play with than in previous years. This is a big reason why Gov. Kevin Stitt and the House and Senate majorities are advocating for flat budgets for most state agencies, Seifried said. A flat budget means an agency gets the same amount to spend as it did the year before. "If you really want to tackle some of these hard issues, you really want to be efficient and slow the growth of government, we've got to look at things like, 'Why is the [flexible benefit allowance] increasing that much year over year?'" Seifried said. "In the interim, hopefully, senators will tackle that and try to figure out some other options." Seifried and Lepak discussed two things hampering the promise of flat budgets: the funding gap at the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and the private prison in Lawton negotiating with the state to buy it. The House of Representatives formed a 13-member select committee April 15 to investigate the mental health department's finances. Neither Lepak nor Hildebrant is on the investigative committee, but Lepak said the department's funding woes have consumed the chamber. Commissioner Allie Friesen has told legislators her department is suffering a $43 million funding gap for Fiscal Year 2025 – ending June 30 – and needs $54 million more to avoid service cuts next fiscal year. Friesen is asking for a $6.2 million infusion to last the department through June. Stitt and legislators have accused the mental health department of covering up its mismanagement of state appropriations. Lepak said he and the rest of the legislative branch have lots of questions. "How did we get in that position? What happened?" Lepak said. "I think I know, but I have to wait until the process works." Seifried and Lepak said legislators are also reeling at the prospect of potentially having to spend upward of $300 million to buy the Lawton Correctional Facility. GEO Group operates the prison under a contract with the Oklahoma Board of Corrections but elected last year not to renew it. The Lawton Correctional Facility houses about 2,500 male prisoners. Lepak said that with GEO bowing out, it falls to the state to either buy the Lawton prison or expend funds to move the prisoners elsewhere. Seifried said it's frustrating the Oklahoma Board of Corrections didn't bring the issue to lawmakers sooner. "You saw this coming down the line, possibly as early as fall, and then now you're coming to us, and then the only option is to purchase a prison for $300 million," Seifried said. "... You know, it's just impossible. There's been a lot of angst around that." The Board of Corrections took no action April 23 after privately discussing its contract with GEO in executive session. April 10 was the deadline to advance bills from the other chamber through policy committees. When the legislators came to Claremore April 18, their deadline to get these bills out of oversight committee loomed six days ahead. Four bills they discussed that have surmounted the April 24 deadline are House Bills 1276 and 1539 and Senate Bills 139 and 1027. Seifried authored S.B. 139 and is the Senate sponsor of H.B. 1276; these are the bills seeking to ban cell phones during the school day. Their only material difference is that the House bill requires school boards to review and renew the policy each year, and the Senate version does not. Seifried said she hopes one of them will pass this session. Lepak is sponsoring H.B. 1539, which would set up a path to cut Oklahomans' income taxes. It would require the State Board of Equalization to compare FY 2025 tax collection to FY 2023's in December. If FY 2025's revenue exceeds FY 2023's by $300 million or more, the state would cut the 4.75% personal income tax rate by 0.25% across all income levels. The House struck the title from the bill March 6. A bill needs a title to become a law in Oklahoma, so this measure ensured the House would get another chance to review it after the Senate considered it. The Senate restored its title April 7, Lepak said, and passed H.B. 1539 April 10 without changing the House's language. "If the House votes for it on the floor, it goes to the governor and proceeds unless we decide to change it or attach something else to it," Lepak said. None of the three lawmakers is a sponsor on S.B. 1027, which affects Oklahoma's initiative petition process, but Hildebrant and Lepak said they both support it. It is a major Republican priority; House Speaker Rep. Kyle Hilbert is one of the bill's co-authors. Lepak said S.B. 1027 would restrict the numbers of signatures petitioners can gather in a single county to 11.5% of the votes cast in that county during the last gubernatorial election. In Rogers County, no more than 3,902 people could sign an initiative petition. Older versions of the bill stipulated no more than 10% of signatures could come from a county with more than 400,000 residents. Only Oklahoma and Tulsa counties fit that bill, and Hildebrant and Lepak said that was the point. "You get a lot of emails of people thinking that their voice is being taken away," Hildebrant said. "... The problem with initiative petitions is all the signatures for the initial petitions are now coming from Tulsa County and from Oklahoma County ... Rogers County and many of these other counties across the state of Oklahoma don't get their voices heard." Lepak said this translates to proposals favored by urban Democrats and liberal interest groups more consistently making the ballot and proposals crafted by the Legislature often failing. He said this is why Oklahomans got the chance to vote on expanding Medicaid and legalizing medical marijuana. Lepak said he doesn't have data on how many of the signatures to get those proposals on the ballot came from urban versus rural areas. "Anecdotally, you don't see people in Weatherford collecting signatures," Lepak said. "But I could drive from the Capitol up the Northwest Expressway to where my parents live and see four different stations for medical marijuana."
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Oklahoma House, Senate consider each other's bills banning cellphones in schools
A poster reads, "bell to bell, no cell" at the Jenks Public Schools Math and Science Center, where students are prohibited from using cellphones during class time. Oklahoma lawmakers are considering multiple bills that would restrict student cellphone use during the school day. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY — A Senate committee has approved a House bill calling for cellphone bans in public schools, setting the stage for final negotiations on a major policy priority for Oklahoma lawmakers. The Senate Education Committee advanced House Bill 1276 with a 7-4 vote on Tuesday. Similar legislation from the Senate is on the agenda for the House Common Education Committee's meeting Wednesday. HB 1276 would require every district in the state to develop a policy restricting student use of cellphones and personal electronic devices for the entire school day, starting next school year. The bill leaves the door open for local school boards to opt out and continue permitting student cellphone use in their districts. Similar legislation that originated in the Senate, SB 139, would mandate a cellphone ban in all public schools for a year with no chance for districts to opt out until after the 2025-26 academic year. Districts would have the choice after the first year whether to keep the prohibition in place. Each version would allow students to use their cellphones for medically necessary reasons or in emergency cases. Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore, and Rep. Chad Caldwell, R-Enid, are the authors of both bills. If both bills pass the committee stage, Seifried said House and Senate lawmakers will discuss which version has the most support from the full Legislature. Allowing districts the chance to opt out of the cellphone ban has been a priority of the House, Seifried said. The message she heard most often from fellow senators is 'let's get it done,' she said. 'I think we'll eventually get together and decide which version will pass and which can gain the most consensus,' Seifried said after the committee vote. 'We wanted to get both through committee. We really are working together on this quite closely, and so that'll be for us to decide in the coming weeks.' House lawmakers passed HB 1276 with overwhelming support from both parties. The Senate passed SB 139 along party lines. The policy of restricting cellphones in schools has enjoyed vocal support from Gov. Kevin Stitt and legislative leaders. If one of the measures becomes law, Oklahoma would join nine other states, including California and Arkansas, that have enacted a ban on cellphones in schools. Oklahoma lawmakers have been looking into the issue since before the 2025 session began. Both chambers hosted fall interim studies examining the detriments of digital media on children and the benefits of cellphone bans in Oklahoma schools that already have these restrictions in place. Caldwell said he and Seifried agree educators, parents and students would recognize the positive impact once a statewide ban is in place. He decided to include a district opt-out provision in HB 1276, he said, after having conversations with House leadership and fellow representatives. Caldwell said he hopes both the House and Senate versions advance past the committee stage for consideration in final negotiations. 'This truly has a chance to make transformative change in our schools, and that's not something we get a chance to do every day,' Caldwell said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Proposed ban on student use of cellphones in Oklahoma school approved by Senate committee
An Oklahoma House bill that would prohibit the use of cellphones by students during the school day moved forward in the state Senate on Tuesday, the day before the Senate's bill on the same subject is scheduled to be heard in a House committee. The issue of cellphones in schools has taken on a high profile in the Legislature, with both chambers conducting interim studies last year about the subject, an indicator that such a ban is a priority for lawmakers. On Tuesday, by a 7-4 vote that included bipartisan opposition, the Senate Education Committee passed House Bill 1276, authored by Rep. Chad Caldwell, R-Enid, and sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore. The vote advanced Caldwell's bill to the Senate floor. On Wednesday, Seifried's bill, Senate Bill 139, will be heard in the House Common Education Committee and if it passes, it will move to the Education Oversight Committee. Caldwell is the House sponsor of Seifried's bill. Seifried and Caldwell have worked together for two years on the cellphone legislation. Seifried is the vice chair of the Senate Education Committee, while Caldwell is the vice chair of the House Education Oversight Committee. Their bills have slight differences. The House bill includes an opt-out provision for district school boards, although such a policy would have to be approved every year by the board. The Senate bill would require districts to develop their own policies to limit student cellphone use for the full school day for the entire 2025-26 school year. Should both bills pass both chambers, Seifried said the differences in the legislation could be worked out in a joint House-Senate committee. 'This is probably the most important thing we can do for education this year,' Seifried said during debate about the House bill. More: School cellphone ban passes Oklahoma House as lawmakers debate library book bans, policies The four senators voting against the bill Tuesday spanned the political spectrum ― far-right Sen. Dusty Deevers, R-Elgin, and Sen. Kendal Sacchieri, R-Blanchard, to Democrats such as Sen. Carri Hicks, D-Oklahoma City, and Sen. Mark Mann, D-Oklahoma City. Of those, only Hicks asked questions about the bill Tuesday. Hicks, a former teacher, inquired about the timeline of Caldwell's bill that was being considered, noting school boards would have only until August to develop a policy mandated by the bill. Seifried responded by saying the bill should come as no surprise to districts, given that the subject has been a conversation at the Capitol for more than a year. Hicks also asked about the timeliness of a school cellphone ban and if there was an appetite to delay the idea. 'This is such an important issue, it warrants a timeliness to it,' Seifried said. '…There is a sense of urgency for me on this.' Proponents of banning student use of cellphones say it will eliminate distractions in the classroom and improve students' mental health. Opponents of the legislation mostly believe the decision should be left to local school boards and not mandated by the Legislature. Caldwell's bill includes a provision for emergency use, including items used for medical issues. When his bill passed the House, Caldwell said it 'would allow schools the ability to craft their own policies to prohibit the use of cell phones and smartwatches during the school day starting next school year. Schools maintain control, but students reap the benefits." Also passing out of the Senate committee Tuesday, by an 11-0 vote, was House Bill 1727, a bill by House Speaker Pro Tempore Anthony Moore, R-Clinton, that would allow the children of Oklahoma classroom teachers with at least 10 years of experience to be eligible for the Oklahoma's Promise program, which allows students from Oklahoma families meeting certain income requirements to earn a college or technology center tuition scholarship. Another Moore bill, House Bill 1017, passed 9-2, albeit with the title removed, a legislative maneuver that can slow a bill's progress. Dubbed the 'Oklahoma College Athletic Conference Act,' it would create a commission, consisting of presidents of 10 of the 11 NCAA Division II institutions in Oklahoma, to explore the feasibility of creating an all-Oklahoma Division II conference. Currently, Oklahoma's Division II universities are spread among three conferences, with teams having to travel to western New Mexico, far south Texas, Nebraska and well into Arkansas for conference games, often bypassing their geographic rivals. Deevers and Sacchieri voted against the bill, which is being sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Dave Rader, R-Tulsa, a former football coach at the University of Tulsa. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Senate committee passes school cellphone ban bill
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill seeking to include Oklahoma school board elections on partisan November ballots advances
Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore, speaks to another senator ahead of the chamber's organizational day on Jan. 7, 2025. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY – The Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that would move school board elections to November, despite concerns it would make races partisan and increase the costs for candidates to run. Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore, said moving the elections from April to November is necessary to increase voter participation. Senate Bill 6 would move school primary elections from February to September in odd-numbered years and to August in even-numbered years. Seifried, the author of the measure, said current school board elections are held at a time when voters aren't paying attention and should be moved to a period when voters are engaged, she said. 'Voter turnout in local school board elections is alarmingly low because these contests are held outside Oklahoma's traditional election cycles,' she said. 'Senate Bill 6 will increase the number of candidates running for these key positions and, more importantly, boost voter participation in these pivotal races.' While Seifried said school board races would remain nonpartisan, critics of moving the elections said it would be a mistake to include the races on General Election ballots that contain partisan contests. School board races should not be intermingled with state and federal races that get ugly along party lines, said Sen. Carri Hicks, D-Oklahoma City. Candidates who file to run for school board are unpaid and requiring them to campaign for a November election will put their credentials under a microscope, she said. 'I think it is a misstep to align these elections with partisan fueled races,' Hicks said. 'I think it is dangerous.' Sen. Mark Mann, D-Oklahoma City, said the change will result in fewer candidates running for school board posts. Mann, who previously served on the Oklahoma City school board, said half to three-fourths of legislative seats are determined in the primary, meaning many voters have no reason to show up for the November general election. If school board races are moved, it will triple or quadruple a candidate's cost to get their message out, he said. 'I think voters have fatigue,' said Sen. Kristen Thompson, R-Edmond. 'You have too many elections in this state. This is giving people the opportunity to be more informed, more educated.' The bill, which passed by a vote of 33-10, largely along party lines, moves to the House for consideration. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill seeking to include Oklahoma school board elections on partisan November ballots advances
Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore, speaks to another senator ahead of the chamber's organizational day on Jan. 7, 2025. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY – The Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that would move school board elections to November, despite concerns it would make races partisan and increase the costs for candidates to run. Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore, said moving the elections from April to November is necessary to increase voter participation. Senate Bill 6 would move school primary elections from February to September in odd-numbered years and to August in even-numbered years. Seifried, the author of the measure, said current school board elections are held at a time when voters aren't paying attention and should be moved to a period when voters are engaged, she said. 'Voter turnout in local school board elections is alarmingly low because these contests are held outside Oklahoma's traditional election cycles,' she said. 'Senate Bill 6 will increase the number of candidates running for these key positions and, more importantly, boost voter participation in these pivotal races.' While Seifried said school board races would remain nonpartisan, critics of moving the elections said it would be a mistake to include the races on General Election ballots that contain partisan contests. School board races should not be intermingled with state and federal races that get ugly along party lines, said Sen. Carri Hicks, D-Oklahoma City. Candidates who file to run for school board are unpaid and requiring them to campaign for a November election will put their credentials under a microscope, she said. 'I think it is a misstep to align these elections with partisan fueled races,' Hicks said. 'I think it is dangerous.' Sen. Mark Mann, D-Oklahoma City, said the change will result in fewer candidates running for school board posts. Mann, who previously served on the Oklahoma City school board, said half to three-fourths of legislative seats are determined in the primary, meaning many voters have no reason to show up for the November general election. If school board races are moved, it will triple or quadruple a candidate's cost to get their message out, he said. 'I think voters have fatigue,' said Sen. Kristen Thompson, R-Edmond. 'You have too many elections in this state. This is giving people the opportunity to be more informed, more educated.' The bill, which passed by a vote of 33-10, largely along party lines, moves to the House for consideration. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
