OKLAHOMA CITY – With just days remaining the 2022 legislative session, Republican leaders in both houses have called themselves into a special session to appropriate almost $2 billion dollars sent to the state as part of the American Rescue Plan Act.
Last Wednesday, the Legislature effectively took control of the ARPA funds and called itself into a special session using petitions in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and Senate.
The special session will run concurrently with the final week of the Second Session of the 58th Oklahoma Legislature. Lawmakers will have about $1.8 billion in ARPA funds to allocate.
While a few states give their governor the exclusive decision on how to allocate ARPA funds, 34 states – including Oklahoma – have joint legislative and executive authority of ARPA funds. Because Oklahoma’s legislature regularly exercises tight control over its budget process, state lawmakers are sure to have a great deal of influence about how the federal funds will be spent.
In a media statement announcing the special session, Senate Pro Tempore Greg Treat (R-Oklahoma City) said lawmakers would work to “enact an ARPA spending plan as agreed to by the Joint Committee on Pandemic Relief Funding.”
“Ensuring the joint committee’s public-driven process can run its full course is in Oklahoma’s best interest,” Treat said. “A concurrent session allows for a comprehensive, strategic plan to be enacted through appropriations after a full vetting of submissions and public discussion of how to best deploy these resources.”
The committee – which includes Stitt’s office – was established last year to determine how ARPA funds would to be spent, Treat said. He said committee hearings and project submissions have been ongoing for months and are continuing.
Though the state has more than $1.8 billion to spend, the committee received $17.8 billion in requests. House Speaker Charles McCall (R-Atoka) said the special session will keep incorporate the public’s wishes for ARPA spending and “keep the train on the track.”
Both lawmakers said the special session would also cover appropriations Project Ocean, a major economic development project in northeastern Oklahoma. That project – thought to be Panasonic – is designed to lure the company to build a $4 billion facility in Pryor.
Lawmakers must adjourn the regular session sine die by 5 p.m. Friday, May 27. The special session, however, is expected to continue through early summer.