Week sixteen of the legislative session finds me at home in the district helping to assess flooding and tornado damage after recent storms came through Wilburton and the surrounding area. I’m in the process of checking with the governor to see if we can get an emergency declared. That would help free up some resources to help with recovery.
Back at the Capitol, we ran more than 50 budget bills through the Joint Committee on Appropriations & Budget in both the House and Senate. We’ll now begin hearing a number of those bills on the floor in each chamber. Even though a budget agreement has been reached between House and Senate leaders and the governor, there are still a number of moving parts in this budget.
One big component of this budget is an income tax cut of a quarter-percent for each of the top three tax brackets and elimination of income tax altogether for the bottom three income tax brackets. This would take place for tax year 2026. There’s also a path to zero should certain state revenue projections be met in future years. I’m in favor of this tax cut as long as future legislatures don’t try to tax property at a higher rate to make up the deficit.
Another good component for our House district is additional transportation funding that will take us up to $4,000 per mile for our county roads and provide about $25 million to address dilapidated county bridges.
We’re also proposing a 3% increase to public education funding, including $26 million directly into the school funding formula and $9.3 million additional for expansion of various Career Tech facilities.
We still maintain about $3.5 million in cash reserves should we need it in the future.
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 part and Pittsburg County
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