Alva Review-Courier -

We’ve now entered the fourth week of the special legislative session. Negotiations continue between the House, Senate, and the governor’s office. Trying to fill our budget shortfall is not an easy task. We have to find an agreement which will help meet our budgetary needs and be agreeable to all the parties involved.

The reason we are currently in a special session is that the majority of the legislators are not satisfied with just making further cuts to state agencies and going home. Up to this point we have been able to tighten our budgetary belts without hurting the ability of these agencies to meet the needs of the citizens. I recently participated in meetings of all budgetary chair and vice chairs, where we examined the many agencies of our state. Many of those agencies are approaching 40% in cuts over the last 10 years.

Recently, I have had many suggestions on things to do to help fill our budget shortfall, one of those catching a lot of attention is gross production tax. Raising the gross production tax, for example, would have a minimal impact on our state’s budget this fiscal year, an increase from 2 percent to 5 percent during special session would only bring in between around $6 million in this upcoming year. That would only fill less than 5 percent of the total $215 million we need. If current oil prices remain stable, GPT would only bring in around $20 million for a full calendar year. I would like to point out that the Senate has shown definite resistance to raising GPT.

I am always looking for ways we can make state government work more efficiently, and I believe there are places we could streamline and layers of bureaucracy we could eliminate. But those things take time, and spending $30,000 per day during a special session is not a wise use of our time or your tax dollars. Efforts to streamline government and search for inefficiencies should be taken care of during the interim and voted on while the Legislature is in regular session.

Please know that lawmakers are working hard to find a solution that is best for Oklahoma. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you need anything. I’m at [email protected] and at 405-557-7339. Thank you, and may God bless our great state.