The biggest news out of the Capitol this week is that the legislature has officially adjourned Sine Die the second special legislative session! Meanwhile, the regular legislative session is pushing on towards a goal of Sine Die adjournment by May 4th (though constitutionally they may remain in regular session until the last Friday in May). Legislative leaders have stated that they are close to agreement on a FY 19 budget and hope to be able to announce a budget deal as early as next week.
 
Next Thursday marks the final major deadline prior to Sine Die, as bills and joint resolutions must pass the floor in the opposite chamber by April 26th. 
 
In addition to the education budget which has already been signed into law, legislators have said remaining priorities this session include criminal justice reform bills (many were heard in the Senate this week), the state budget, and bills tackling wind energy. Though a wind bill was expected to be heard in the House yesterday, House leadership has pushed that to Monday, when they are expected to announce a bipartisan wind compromise bill. Read more from NewsOK  here .

Special Session Wrap-up

The House met in special session Tuesday to consider the final bill of the second special session –  HB 1014xx  by Rep. Kevin Wallace (R-Wellston). This measure was a part of the overall package of special session bills that created and funded the teacher pay raise, education support employee raise and state employee raise. It passed the Senate at the end of March with the pay raise bills, but the House had not taken it up prior to Tuesday. The measure modifies the apportionment structure for various transportation funds to change the sources of revenue for the ROADS fund. 

There has been some misleading information circulating on social media this week, suggesting that  HB 1014xx  diverts funds away from the revenue intended for teacher pay raises, but that's not entirely accurate. While this does redirect various apportionments beginning in FY 2020, these additional apportionments will be offset by existing apportionments of Income Tax to the ROADS fund. These Income Tax collections (along with potential apportionments in excess of the ROADS fund fiscal year cap) will flow to the General Revenue fund. Therefore, the GR fund will suffer no negative effects as a result of the measure. For a more detailed explanation,  read the fiscal impact statement here .
Regular Session Bills of Note

a.      HB 3220 by Rep. Jadine Nollan (R-Sand Springs)
HB 3220 directs the State Board of Career and Technology Education to develop a certification system for teachers and instructors in the technology center school districts. The certification system must be competency based and shall reflect industry standards and skills.
  • HB 3220 passed the Senate floor this week

b.      SB 936 by Sen. Stephanie Bice (R-OKC)
SB 936 was amended in committee. The bill's new language (an amendment offered by Speaker McCall) stipulates that if a school district has agreed to pay all or some of a teacher’s share of retirement on behalf of the employee, the district may no longer use that amount to meet the minimum salary schedule requirements.
  • SB 936 barely passed out of committee with the new language, but it is now eligible to be heard on the House floor.

c.       SB 1569 by Sen. Mike Schulz (R-Altus)
SB 1569 is an apportionment reform bill. It provides that in a budget shortfall year — “off the top" funds (such as Teachers’ Retirement System Revolving Funds, before they were excluded in the newest version of the bill) would have to be reduced by the same percentage as the overall General Revenue shortfall. The amount taken from the “off the top” funds (such as the ROADS fund) would be put in a fund to help the legislature spread out the money and fill holes from the General Revenue fund.
  • SB 1569 was scheduled to be heard in the House Appropriations & Budget Committee on Monday, but was laid over in committee. Since this was a deadline week for bills to pass out of House A&B, this bill is dormant and will not be moving forward this session.

d.     SB 1370 by Sen. Jason Smalley (R-Stroud)
SB 1370 allows additional flexibility for students who choose to follow core curriculum graduation requirements. For these students, it adds successful completion of one year of a full-time, three-hour career tech program or any other mathematics course with content and/or rigor equal to or above Algebra I to the courses that meet the mathematics requirement for high school graduation. 
  • SB 1370 is expected to be heard Monday on the House floor.
If you have questions about any of the information provided in this update, please contact our office, or you may contact Skye McNiel, 918-645-1289 or by email at [email protected] or Hayley Jones at (405) 524-1191. 

   RESOURCES:

Oklahoma Legislature:  http://www.oklegislature.gov/index.aspx 




Contact Superintendent Hofmeister:  http://sde.ok.gov/sde/webform/contact

OkACTE Website:  http://www.okacte.org