Oklahoma House reveals $12.6B budget focusing on education, law enforcement, and tax cuts

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (KOKH) — The Oklahoma House of Representatives rolled out their initial budget numbers on Tuesday, which is a $12.6B appropriation to state agencies, programs and infrastructure.

For the last month Oklahomans could view the Senate budget as part of their push for transparency.

Now, we know where the House stands with their own budget transparency portal.

"It will be an electronic digital portal, accessible to anyone in the state of Oklahoma, outside the state of Oklahoma, on the world wide web," House Speaker Charles McCall said.

All of the budget numbers can be viewed on the House website at this link.

Their $12.63B budget is an around 4% decrease from last year, and around a billion dollars less than the Senate proposed budget.

"At this point well still have $4.87B in savings and capital liquidity," Rep. Kevin Wallace, the House's Appropriations and Budget Chair said.

Although the Senate has repeatedly spoken out against it, the House budget includes a quarter point income tax cut, which is a policy they're not giving up on.

"We need to get a pay raise through a tax cut," Speaker McCall said. "We need to first address that before we address some other spending matters of the state."

There's also an emphasis on education, with a $3.8B allocation.

"The historic education funding that was injected into public education last year, you will find that reoccurring into this budget as part of the base funding for education," Speaker McCall said.

The House is also increasing funding for law enforcement, which the Speaker said is aimed at targeting illegal marijuana grows and illegal immigration.