Governor continues efforts to make Oklahoma ‘Top 10’ state
OKLAHOMA CITY — Flanked by the Speaker of the House and the Senate Pro Tempore, Gov. Kevin Stitt delivered his State of the State speech Monday, calling on state lawmakers to reduce the income and grocery tax, ban transgender therapies on minors and make major changes in school and education policy.
The governor spoke for about 30 minutes. His speech was, on numerous occasions, greeted with heavy applause by House and Senate Republicans.
Stitt first spoke about education and the need to expand school choice options for Oklahoma families. The governor asked lawmakers to, “create more, not fewer schools,” and referenced former Gov. Henry Bellmon’s efforts to expand school choice.
“Providing more options for students leads to better outcomes,” the governor said. “Because our greatest asset isn’t our oil or gas. It’s not our football teams. It’s not the aerospace and defense industry. It’s our kids.”
The governor’s budget includes $130 million for education savings accounts, $100 million to, “create new schools focused on innovation, unlocking student potential and addressing working pipeline needs in the state,” and $100 million to create, “one of the largest initiatives supporting student reading in the nation.”
Stitt’s budget also includes $50 million for performance-based teacher pay increases and about $3 million to provide students an in-home identification kit.
According to Stitt’s budget, a cut in the state’s personal income tax rate would cost about $260 million, while his proposal to reduce the state’s share of the 8.7% grocery tax — roughly 4.5% — would eat up another $351 million.
The governor’s speech signaled the opening day of the First Session of the 59th Oklahoma Legislature. At the same time Stitt delivered his remarks, hundreds of protesters inside and outside the Capitol pushed back against the governor’s call to ban all gender transition surgery and hormone therapies on all minors.
“Minors can’t vote, can’t purchase alcohol and they can’t purchase cigarettes,” the governor said. “We should not allow a minor to get permanent gender altering surgery in Oklahoma. I’m calling for a bill that bans all gender transition surgeries and hormone therapies on minors in the state.”
Stitt also touted his efforts to make Oklahoma a top 10 state, saying, “Oklahoma’s affordable and reliable (energy) grid is the envy of the world and an undeniable competitive advantage.”
State lawmakers will begin their examination of the governor’s proposals and his budget on Tuesday. The legislature is expected to have about $13 billion to appropriate for the 2024 fiscal year. That figure does not include about $1.4 billion in the state’s constitutional reserve fund.