Will history repeat itself?
In 2001, then-Gov. Frank Keating vetoed major portions of a general appropriations bill because the governor’s office and many lawmakers were excluded from budget talks.
Then, legislative leaders in the House and Senate, controlled by Democrats, predicted the Republican governor’s veto in late March would lead to a government shutdown.
Instead, legislative leaders and the governor’s office worked together and drafted a new budget bill; the Legislature adjourned a day early.
Gov. Brad Henry on Wednesday vetoed the $6.7 billion budget prepared by legislative leaders largely because his office and House Democrats were left out of budget talks. Republican leaders in the GOP-controlled House of Representatives and Democratic and Republican leaders in the evenly split Senate put together the spending bill; Henry’s office and House Democrats were excluded.
The governor said he is optimistic what occurred six years ago could happen this session.
“To say that this veto would somehow poison or dampen an atmosphere of bipartisanship is absurd,” he said.
What do you think? Will new rounds of budget talks be productive? Do you think an override attempt will occur?
Michael McNutt
Capitol Bureau
Pledge cards
All Democratic House members were delivered a card with an “Oklahoma legislative pledge for responsible state government” Tuesday.
The card seeks each member’s signature saying they agree to “protect vital state services, oppose partisan griblock and stand up for tax relief.” By signing, members agree to override any budget veto by the governor.
The cards are in response to a looming veto by Gov. Brad Henry of a budget agreement passed by the House and Senate last week. He started by vetoing $1 million in supplemental funding Tuesday for an independent Corrections Department audit. He is expected to announce what he will do with the rest of the $6.89 billion fiscal year 2008 budget at 3 p.m. today.
House Minority Leader Danny Morgan called the cards a political stunt, and said he didn’t expect any House Democrats to sign the pledge card. In fact, as I searched for a card today, many Democratic offices had already thrown it away. One was returned to Rep. Trebor Worthen, R-Oklahoma City, with “Return to sender, this is stupid” written on it.
It is unclear what purpose the cards serve — Republicans certainly don’t need signed cards to know how many votes they have in favor of a veto override. To override a veto, the House needs 68 votes, meaning at least 34 Democrats must vote to sustain the veto to keep it in place. The top of the card reads: “Don’t let the taxpayers of your district suffer a shutdown of vital state services in Oklahoma’s 100th year!”
It appears that House Republicans are trying to get it on record that Democrats did not sign the pledge, and therefore are against “responsible state government,” as it says on the card. What they will do with that message is yet to be seen. Stay tuned!
Senate Republicans and Democrats, along with House Republican leadership proposed a budget agreement last week, which was then passed unanimously in the Senate and overwhelmingly in the House. The budget left out many of the governor’s proposals, and Henry and the House Democrats have complained that they didn’t have a seat at the negotiation table.
Are the House Republicans right in what they say in their pledge cards, that a veto represents a balk on responsible state government? They have argued the budget agreement was a bipartisan compromise and Henry and the House Democrats are opposing the budget because of hurt personal feelings. A veto could set up a government shut-down if another budget agreement can’t be reached by the end of the legislative session in May.
Or are Henry and the House Democrats right to attack the budgeting process, which was mostly decided by the House Republican leadership and Senate Democrat and Republican leaders? They have said it is unfair to link immediately needed supplemental funding for schools and prisons to a full 2008 budget. By putting both in one bill, lawmakers do not have enough time to review the full $6.89 billion budget, they say.
What do you think?
Jennifer Mock
Capitol Bureau
Mental health courts: Henry to decide funding today
Kathy Kelly believes in mental health courts.
Going to one of the first mental health court sessions in Oklahoma helped her end a drug habit of about 25 years and inspired her to help those who need mental health services, the Oklahoma City woman told a crowd gathered yesterday at the state Capitol.
Kelly, 45, said she started taking illegal drugs when she was 11. She was diagnosed as having a bipolar disorder; she refused to take her medicine, but instead took other drugs to help her cope with her condition.
“Everyone in my life had given up on me, including myself,” she said. “At one point, it was either go homeless or be in jail or die.”
She said she eventually became addicted to cocaine and was stealing to support her habit. Arrested on a forgery complaint, she was being held about five years ago in the Oklahoma County jail when a representative of the Oklahoma Mental Health Consumer Council recommended her case be taken up in the county’s recently established mental health court.
Kelly now works for the mental health council. She’s completing a master’s degree in criminal justice. She will be among the speakers during a seminar on alternative sentencing scheduled for May 4 in Oklahoma City.
“Recovery was really hard, but I decided to choose recovery instead,” she said. “It’s not an easy road, but it’s worth it.”
Oklahoma now has 12 mental health courts and 51 drug courts.
The state Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Department, which has an annual state budget of about $200 million, requested $30 million in new funding for the upcoming fiscal year to increase drug and mental health courts to provide more alternative sentencing possibilities.
Gov. Brad Henry recommended legislators appropriate $20 million. A budget approved last week by lawmakers and awaiting action by the governor does not include any additional funding.
The governor has scheduled a news conference at 3 today to announce whether he will veto any or all of the $6.87 billion budget. He has until midnight today to act on the budget.
Yesterday, he vetoed a $1 million item – which is intended to pay for a performance audit of the prison system – from the $92 million supplemental money for agencies to make it through this fiscal year. The supplemental request is part of the budget package.
Senate co-President Pro Tempore Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, told those attending yesterday’s rally to encourage Henry to sign the budget bill. If the governor approves the measure, then talks can begin on funding additional or new programs, he said.
Henry vetoing any part of the bill “would create an interruption of services and I think it would be disruptive to the (budget) process,” Coffee said.
Terri White, named last week as the Mental Health Department’s new commissioner, said she will be asking lawmakers to approve additional funding.
Michael McNutt
Capitol Bureau
Hours wasted?
The House continues to hear empty appropriations bills today, even though a budget agreement has been reached and passed by the Legislature.
The legislation — often called shell bills because there are blanks where funding figures could be inserted later with amendments — singles out every state agency. There are about 200 of these empty bills in the House and Senate this year.
In the past, each of the bills have been used to fund each agency individually. But, this year lawmakers have passed a general appropriations bill, meaning all agencies are funded in one bill.
It is unclear if the Governor will sign the budget passed last week. He has complained he was left out of budget negotiations, which occurred between House and Senate leaders.
If the governor vetoes all or part of the funding bill, it is possible the shell bills will be needed. Otherwise, it may be hours of wasted time in the House and Senate. Only time will tell.
Jennifer Mock
Capitol Bureau
Budget showdown
Gov. Brad Henry has until Wednesday to decide whether to veto all or some of the $6.87 billion budget that sailed last week through the Legislature.
Legislative leaders say the budget’s overwhelming approval by lawmakers indicates bipartisan support. The measure passed 48 to 0 in the evenly divided Senate and 84 to 16 in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
Henry, though, has said in statements he is disappointed his office was not included in the talks.
House Democrats, outnumbered 44 to 57, also are disappointed they were not included in budget talks. The 16 lawmakers who voted against the budget were House Democrats.
About nine lawmakers were involved in preparing the budget.
While Henry was vacationing with his family last week, his top budget adviser, state Treasurer Scott Meacham, who serves on the governor’s Cabinet as secretary of revenue and finance, has been the most vocal critic of the bill.
Friday afternoon, Republicans stepped up efforts criticizing the Democratic governor’s office.
Two House Republicans blamed Meacham for making poor revenue estimates and for not understanding the budget proposal.
State Republican Party Chairman Tom Daxon criticized Henry for being gone last week while lawmakers approved the budget. He wanted details of where the Henry family went on spring break. The governor’s office declined to say where the governor’s family was to prevent them from being disturbed.
It’s unclear what Henry could have done differently had he been at the Capitol. The budget agreement was prepared before Henry left; the governor’s office was not given anything on paper about the proposal until just before legislative leaders announced the deal last Monday. The governor’s office found out a week earlier from a lobbyist, not from legislative leaders, that budget talks were under way on the upcoming fiscal year budget.
Although out of state, Henry, according to a spokesman, was in regular contact about the budget deal after it was released. He talked to House Democratic leaders last week about their concerns. It’s likely he’s been talking with them about whether they would back up any veto.
It takes 68 votes in the 101-member House to override a veto, meaning at least 34 of the 44 House Democrats must vote to sustain the governor’s action.
House Speaker Lance Cargill, R-Harrah, has said he doubts Democrats who voted for the budget would switch their position and vote against overriding the veto.
What do you think the governor should do? Should he approve the proposed deal or veto some or all of it?
Who should prepare the budget? It’s the duty of the House and Senate to craft a budget. Should that task be done by several legislative leaders or should more legislators be involved? And should the governor’s office be included in budget talks?
Michael McNutt
Capitol Bureau
Deal or …
Although excluded from being involved in money talks, Gov. Brad Henry says he’s keeping an open mind on a budget agreement that could be announced as early as tomorrow.
“It’s difficult to speculate about any budget proposal until I’ve seen and reviewed the details,” the governor said. “For whatever reason, legislative leaders have excluded the executive branch and most of their fellow lawmakers from budget negotiations.”
The proposed deal was announced Thursday by legislative leaders.
Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Morgan, D-Stillwater, co-President Pro Tempore Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, and House Speaker Lance Cargill, R-Harrah issued a statement saying they expect to make an announcement early this week “regarding the details of a bipartisan agreement on numerous budget-related issues.”
This is the first time since Henry, a Democrat, took office as governor in 2003 that his staff has not been involved in budget talks.
“So far, only three or four legislators have been involved in drafting the budget document that will be presented to the 149-member Legislature and the governor’s office for action,” said Henry, who served in the state Senate 10 years before being elected governor in 2002. “We won’t be able to pass judgment on any proposal until legislative leaders’ private budget talks are made public and we see the fine print.
“I’ve found the appropriations process works in a much more efficient and effective manner when the executive and legislative branches work together to develop a budget, just as we have in previous years during my tenure as governor.”
It’s unknown why the governor’s office was kept out of budget talks. House and Senate members are responsible for writing a budget, but the governor’s office usually is involved in discussions.
The House of Representatives for the third straight year is controlled by Republican. The Senate, however, for the first time is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. Senate budget negotiators include leaders from both parties.
Michael McNutt
Capitol Bureau
College tuition rates locked-in
College freshman may be able to lock in college tuition rates for four years if a bill passed out of the House Tuesday becomes law.
The bill would give parents and students a way to plan for college expenses, supporters say.
“This is a bill for working families,” said Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore.
But opponents of the bill worry that students will have tuition locked in, and then see it raised anyway if the Legislature does not fund higher education at a certain level each year. The bill requires lawmakers to fund colleges at 5 percent above the previous year, or the tuition can be increased.
College costs are a concern to most parents in Oklahoma. Do you think parents should be able to know the exact costs of tuition for all four years of school for their children?
The bill passed the House with a vote of 95-5.
Jennifer Mock
Capitol Bureau
Jayhawk in the Sooner State
U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., joked today it was a good thing he wasn’t in Oklahoma City to raise money for his presidential campaign.
The University of Kansas Jayhawks earlier in the day beat the University of Oklahoma, knocking the Sooners out of the men’s Big 12 Championship being played at the Ford Center in downtown Oklahoma City.
Brownback is considered among the second tier of Republicans in the 2008 presidential sweepstakes, but he said he is encouraged by straw polls taken the past week that place him third or fourth.
In Oklahoma City to receive a public service award from a Roman Catholic group, he left tonight to campaign in Iowa, one of the states with an early caucus or primary in 2008.
Brownback said he supports passage of an optional flat tax, personal Social Security accounts, developing energy security within 15 years and limiting federal spending.
He is against abortion and said marriage is the union between a man and a woman.
“I believe we’ve got to rebuild the family and renew the culture in the country,” he said. “We’ve got 36 percent of our children born out of wedlock. You can raise a good child in that setting, but it comes much more difficult.”
Previous commitments have him campaigning this weekend in Iowa and St. Louis, which will prevent him from returning to Oklahoma City to watch Kansas play Saturday or possibly Sunday in the title game.
Michael McNutt
Capitol Bureau
Deadline week
Deadline week is upon us at the Capitol. Starting Monday, the House and Senate each have about 140 bills to hear in four days.
Topics like abortion, lawsuit reform and tax cuts will likely lead to spirited debate that has been known to last hours in both chambers. Earlier this week House lawmakers debated an immigration reform bill for three and a half hours. The Senate has no limit on debate time.
But next week is do-or-die for bills in their house of origin. House Bills that are not passed out of the body by Thursday will be dead; same with Senate bills on that side of the Capitol.
Long nights are anticipated, so enjoy the weekend and tune in next week for a barrage of political coverage.
Jennifer Mock
Capitol Bureau
The governor and the general
Gov. Brad Henry got some face time with the new American commander of the multinational forces during his unannounced trip this week to Iraq.
The governor in a telephone interview yesterday from Kuwait told the Capitol press corps his biggest thrill was getting to spend time with some of the Oklahoma National Guardsmen stationed in Iraq.
He said he was impressed with Gen. David Patraeus during a briefing Tuesday in Baghdad. Others in the meeting were Zalmay Khalilizad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, and several cabinet members of the Iraqi government.
He said Patraeus comes across as a “very no-nonsense person” and dedicated.
“I wouldn’t want to get in his way when he’s on mission,” Henry said. “I think he sincerely believes that they can succeed in Iraq.”
Michael McNutt
Capitol Bureau
