Editor’s Note: After some internal debate (and a little déjà vu), let’s try this again: sharing columns from legislators. Each week, the media staff at the Capitol dutifully sends this column from Rep. John George. He represents District 36 in the Oklahoma House, covering most of Luther. At the very least, you’ll hear directly from one of your elected leaders, who freely shares his email and phone number at the end of each column! We’re jumping in a few weeks into the legislative session, but if you find this useful, add a comment and consider submitting your own question we can ask him to address.
By Rep. John George
This week in the House, work ground to a stop as ice and snow hit much of the state. On Tuesday, the House was closed because of the weather. We have to keep staff safe, so we cancelled all committee meetings. We didn’t have a quorum to hold session, so that was delayed as well.
Thankfully, we have some extra time built into the process this year with our new two-tiered committee structure. We may have some lengthy committee meetings ahead as we catch up on hearing and passing bills, but we should be OK as we get measures ready to be considered on the House floor.
On the budget front, the state Board of Equalization met recently to certify revenue for the Legislature to appropriate for Fiscal Year 2026, which starts July 1. The board certified about $12.3 billion, which is about $1 billion less than the current fiscal year. That was to be expected. Last year, we enacted the largest tax cut in state history by cutting the state’s portion of the grocery tax. This is on top of a quarter-percent cut to the income tax rate we passed in 2021.
Despite this flattening in revenue, income tax continues to come in above projections. The House appropriations chair points out that this is a sign of economic prosperity. More people have more money. We’re still in great shape to keep core services stable, and we still have healthy savings accounts. This dip in state revenue should not pose a problem as we move into drafting the state budget.
Another item of concern the House is tackling is a consent decree between the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and plaintiffs who sought action against the state. The decree is a result of a lawsuit from 2023 against the department for violating due process rights for pretrial defendants in Oklahoma State Court proceedings who had been declared incompetent to stand trial. The department is charged with helping these defendants regain competency so they can face the consequences of their actions. But efforts, under former leadership, had stalled, leaving these defendants for lengthy times in county jails. Under the consent decree, the department now has a timeline and training planned for accomplishing competency restoration for these individuals. It’s a plan agreed to by the governor’s office, the state’s attorney general, and ODMHSAS.
As the speaker of the House pointed out when presenting the decree in committee, this will ensure those who committed crimes are held accountable, and victim families are allowed to see justice served, all while we are providing Oklahomans accused of a crime needed mental health services.
As always, thank you for electing me to serve District 36. Please feel free to reach out with any thoughts or concerns on legislation. I can be reached at (405) 557-7322 or at john.george@okhouse.gov.
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