This week at the Capitol, the House Appropriations & Budget Committee is continuing agency performance reviews and budget request hearings with the six agencies that receive the largest amount of state dollars.
Last week we heard from the Oklahoma State Department of Education and the Oklahoma Regents for Higher Education. This week we meet with the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, the Department of Human Services, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation and the Oklahoma Health Care Authority.
These hearings are open to the public to attend in person or to watch online on the House website. To watch, go to OKHouse.gov and click on News & Media then live proceedings. You will see a calendar of live events and the times and dates for each. If a meeting is in progress, you can just click on it and watch and listen.
These are important meetings as these six agencies get almost two-thirds of state appropriations. Lawmakers get the opportunity to ask detailed questions about how funding was spent in prior years and what new programs are planned for the future. This helps us in our quest to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars, ensuring the needs of Oklahomans are being met.
Last week’s meeting with the state superintendent of public instruction went surprisingly well. We’ve had a few lawmakers who’ve had issues getting information they’ve requested, but last week, the state superintendent was very forthcoming with his goals of improving student academic outcomes and rewarding our hardworking teachers with extra pay and benefits. I’m hopeful that some of the programs he detailed will work in our schools. If we can get more money to our teachers and into our classrooms, and that can translate to better reading, math, science and history performance for our young people, so they are better prepared for life after school, that would be terrific.
As always, thank You for allowing me to serve you. I can be reached at (405) 557-7381 or by email at jim.grego@okhouse.gov.
Jim Grego serves District 17 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. His district includes Latimer County and parts of LeFlore and Pittsburg counties.
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