Keeping tabs on everything during a legislative session is a difficult task, even for lawmakers at our state capitol. However, with another session set to reconvene Monday, Oklahoma Gazette examined 10 issues that could be important in coming months.
If this production were taxed at the standard 7 percent rate [rather than the set 1 percent rate], the state would collect an additional $379 million from horizontal wells and an additional $9.7 million from deep wells, reported Oklahoma Policy Institute.
Oklahomas Senate president has said he wants to see teacher salaries increase, and Gov. Mary Fallin has expressed support for paying teachers more.
But any talk about boosting teacher pay is followed with talk about an expected budget shortfall and limited funds.
Its going to be a tough budget year, Fallin told educators at a conference this month. It is what it is.
Starting teacher pay is $31,600 with the minimum in the Oklahoma City Public School District just a few thousand dollars higher. The average teacher salary in the state makes us the third-lowest in the nation and several thousand below averages in neighboring states like Texas and Colorado, which are regularly blamed for luring teachers away from Oklahoma.
Teachers helped draw attention to several education issues last year with a rally that brought 25,000 to the capitol. This year, Oklahoma Parent- Teacher Association President Jeffery Corbett wants to double attendance at a planned March 30 rally.
[A] benefit of the change would be a reduction in the number of new laws passed, Grau said. Considering policy changes every other year will help ensure that legislators focus on what is most important to Oklahomans.
Graus proposal would still include yearly budget votes.
It takes one legislator to say, This is a soft-on-crime bill or Youre letting monsters out early, and everyone I talked to who said they supported it ... hits the no button, he said about legislation that alters punishment or time served.
With state prison capacity over 119 percent and staffing levels under 60 percent, Speaker of the House Jeff Hickman said we must do something this year but acknowledged there are no additional funds to work with.
Theres a lot of constituents and people across the state who are not through pushing back on the federal government for the slam-down theyve given us with Supreme Court rulings, he said, referring to same-sex marriage rulings across the country.
One would give our states largest cities the chance to sponsor their own schools.
Look at how the [OKC] mayor and council are constantly being told we need more John Rex schools, Sen. David Holt, R-OKC, said about the new downtown charter school. But the mayors and councils hands are tied because they are not a school district. Holt filed legislation (Senate Bill 68) that seeks to give our two largest cities OKC and Tulsa the ability to sponsor charter schools. While Holt said this does not represent a request from City Hall, he believes expanding opportunities for charter schools is good, especially in urban communities.
I want to see more school options for parents, he said.
While they are often created in urban centers, another proposed bill would expand availability of charter schools to rural and suburban areas. Sen. Kyle Loveless, R-Mustang, filed Senate Bill 171, which would remove population minimums in counties where charter schools can be located.
I think we need to find a way to complete the project, Sen. Patrick Anderson, R-Enid, told Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. this month. I think if the state wants to finish the project, weve got to make some tough choices to do so. We need to have an honest discussion of how were going to pay for that museum to be completed and what we arent going to pay for if we complete it.
Print headline: Top 10, We look at important issues facing our city and state as the Oklahoma Legislature readies to convene.