Oklahoma’s last-gasp budget cleared one hurdle Wednesday by getting Senate approval.
Tulsa Democrat Kevin Matthews was among several senators who wanted the budget bill laid over and lawmakers to enter special session to work on it. He said their priorities have been off.
"We made it a priority to take the Earned Income Tax Credit from working families that we say we want to protect," Matthews said. "We made it a priority to spend a whole day here ... to talk about bathrooms. We made it a priority to even bring up the possibility of impeaching a president that's going to be here six months."
Tulsa Republican Sen. Dan Newberry said though universities and community colleges in his district will take cuts, entering special session for a do-over was worse.
"If we send this back into special session as some in this chamber suggested we do, we would be invoking the House to encourage another $150 million in cuts to higher education, which I don't think they can sustain," Newberry said.
The just shy of $6.8 billion proposal was approved 30–16. Porter Republican Kim David saw some problems in the budget but voted for it.
"There's still some agencies within the agencies that I chair on where some of the cuts are going to be made, because they weren't made whole," David said. "But it could have been so much worse."
The proposal takes up to $144 million from the Rainy Day Fund and uses up to $300 million in bonding to help close a $1.3 billion shortfall. The House takes up the proposal Friday, the last day of the session.
