1.10.25 – KGOU – With new leaders in place, the Oklahoma House of Representatives and Senate start work in the 60th Oklahoma Legislature.
TRANSCRIPT
Announcer: Capitol Insider sponsored by United for Oklahoma – Tribal Nations Building Unity and Economic Strength to Benefit All Oklahomans. More at unitedforoklahoma.com. Oklahoma Thrives Together.
Dick Pryor: This is Capitol Insider – taking you inside politics, policy and government in Oklahoma. I’m Dick Pryor with Quorum call publisher Shawn Ashley. Shawn, the 60th legislature is underway. Organizational day was last Tuesday and the House and Senate elected their new leaders – Speaker of the House and Senate President Pro Tempore.
Shawn Ashley: That’s right. And as expected, Representative Kyle Hilbert, a Republican from Bristow, was elected House speaker on a party line vote. And Senator Lonnie Paxton, a Tuttle Republican, was elected Senate President Pro Tem, also, as expected, in a party line vote. Now, that Senate party line vote may have been a surprise. Senate Democrats nominated their leader, Senator Julia Kurt from Oklahoma City, for the post. It was the first time Democrats have put forward a candidate for president pro tem since they became the chamber’s minority in 2009. On those past organizational days, the Senate minority leader usually has seconded the Republican caucus nomination and often called for the Republican nominee to be elected by acclamation.
Dick Pryor: The two chambers have set deadlines for bills to be heard on the floor and passed rules they plan to follow in the new session. Did they make any significant changes or additions to their rules?
Shawn Ashley: The House adopted a floor amendment to their rules that permits only a person born a biological female to enter any restroom facility which is designated for female members of the House. Representative Molly Jenkins, a Republican from Coyle and a freshman, proposed the amendment, which was adopted. “It’s a time-honored tradition,” Jenkins argued on the House floor, “that men use men’s bathrooms and women use women’s bathrooms.”
Dick Pryor: Does that new rule affect public bathrooms in the state capitol building?
Shawn Ashley: No, it does not. It affects only one restroom designated for use by female members of the House, which is located just outside the House chamber. And to my knowledge and the knowledge of members of the House and the Senate I have spoken with, there are no transgender women or men who identify as women in the House. So, it’s really a rule that can’t be broken.
Dick Pryor: The State Treasurer’s office has released figures on gross receipts to the treasury for calendar year 2024, and we’ve been following the trend in gross receipts and how they’ve been slowing over the last year. What do the annual numbers indicate?
Shawn Ashley: Exactly what Dr. Bob Dauffenbach has been warning us about: gross receipts for calendar year 2024 were down. They totaled $16.87 billion. That’s a decrease of $79.8 million or 0.5% compared to 2023’s collections. The big decline came in gross production tax collections on oil and natural gas, which were down more than 22% in calendar year 2024. Now, that was reflected in numbers presented to the Board of Equalization in December. Members were told that this fiscal year’s revenue, fiscal year 2025, which includes the second half of calendar year 2024, likely would not be as much as originally forecast back in February, but would be within the cushion that is automatically built in to state appropriations.
Dick Pryor: Legislative budget hearings began Wednesday. These hearings are when agencies present their budget request for the next fiscal year to lawmakers. The hearings can be mundane, but sometimes quite enlightening. Have you heard anything especially interesting so far?
Shawn Ashley: Former Senator Sean Burrage made his first presentation to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Education as Chancellor for Higher Education. He is asking the legislature to accelerate the allocation of deferred maintenance funding that was approved in 2024 for the state’s colleges and universities. The regents are scheduled to receive more than $100 million spread out over the next three fiscal years, but they want to see that money front loaded into fiscal year 2026. Burrage and his staff said a survey of colleges and universities identified more than $100 million in deferred maintenance projects that are in need of funding.
Dick Pryor: Thank you, Shawn.
Shawn Ashley: You’re very welcome.
Dick Pryor: For more information, go to quorumcall.online and find audio and transcripts at kgou.org. Until next time, with Shawn Ashley, I’m Dick Pryor.
Announcer: Capitol Insider sponsored by the Oklahoma State Medical Association, committed to fostering health care in rural Oklahoma through education and public and private partnerships. More at OSMA at okmed.org.
Dick Pryor has more than 30 years of experience in public service media, having previously served as deputy director, managing editor, news manager, news anchor and host for OETA, Oklahoma’s statewide public TV network. He was named general manager of KGOU Radio in November 2016.