Dozens of ARPA proposals advance to full Legislature

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OKLAHOMA CITY — The Joint Committee on Pandemic Relief Funding recently advanced a comprehensive slate of projects to the full Legislature for consideration when state lawmakers reconvene in a special session this week.

Combined with more than $320 million in previously endorsed projects, the House/Senate committee recommended approval of 64 projects totaling more than $1.72 billion, the majority of the state’s $1.87 billion allocation of American Rescue Plan Act funds.

The joint committee proposed funding for physical and behavioral health care projects, water and wastewater improvements, expansion of broadband across the state, support of non-profit organizations and programs, workforce development, rural development, information technology modernization and economic development.

“There were a lot of late nights and early mornings as we worked through more than 1,400 submissions totaling $18 billion, made through a public portal, to decide which projects would benefit the most people in our state,” said Rep. Kevin Wallace, R-Wellston, co-chairman of the pandemic relief panel. “I am confident that the projects advanced by the joint committee will have an immediate impact in areas that need assistance.”

“We heard from the public, industry representatives and others as the working groups carefully decided which projects to advance,” said House Speaker Pro Tempore Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow.

“These are all areas that we have prioritized,” said Sen. Roger Thompson, R-Okemah, co-chairman of the joint committee. “These are projects that will improve the lives of Oklahomans for decades to come.”

For more than a year, subject matter working groups evaluated proposals by eligibility under federal law and priorities established by the joint committee in 2021. All working group recommendations were advanced by the joint committee to the full Legislature.

Program areas and specific projects approved by the joint committee will be placed into appropriations bills for consideration when the Legislature reconvenes this week for the Second Extraordinary Session of the 58th Oklahoma Legislature. The special session was called for the purpose of evaluating ARPA projects advanced by the joint committee and matters of statewide economic development.

President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, the latest federal stimulus bill to aid public health and economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, on March 11, 2021. ARPA funds must be allocated by the end of 2024 and spent by 2026.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures website, the plan included $350 billion in emergency funding for state, local, territorial and tribal governments, known as the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds.

Investments will be made for rural hospitals, to increase the reach of health and human services and to ensure the vital infrastructure necessary to deliver clean water to Oklahoma citizens, said Rep. Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City, chair of the House Democratic Caucus.

A sample of the projects endorsed by the joint committee included:

Workforce development

• Innovation District: $8.4 million to help the Innovation District in Oklahoma City buy equipment and curriculum to create a national center in which pharmaceutical and bio life science workers will be trained for the growing biopharmaceutical industry.

• Oklahoma Aviation Academy: $20 million. This will be a partnership among high schools, colleges, and career tech centers where students in grades 9-12 can take classes in jet mechanics, artificial intelligence and pre-engineering, among other courses, while also receiving a pilot’s license.

• Trucking workforce training: $6.2 million to expand commercial driver’s license classes at four career tech centers.

• Central Oklahoma Manufacturers Association and OK Manufacturing Alliance: $8.1 million to create the Manufacturing Skills Academy for students ages 18 to 24.

“You can’t grow the economy, attract business or work toward a better Oklahoma without a strong, robust, skilled workforce,” said Rep. Meloyde Blancett, D-Tulsa. The joint committee’s investment in Oklahoma’s workforce “was directed specifically to support workforce training programs that invest in strategic industry areas such as 21st-century manufacturing, trucking, and aerospace.”

Rural development

• Telemedicine: $10 million for a joint program between the Oklahoma State University Medical Authority & Trust and the Oklahoma State Department of Health to provide telemedicine access to rural areas.

• National Guard: $8 million to build a joint operations center in Chandler.

• Oklahoma Education Television Authority: $8.2 million to replace transmitters and translators across OETA’s system that is used to broadcast public television and alerts.

Healthcare

• Griffin Memorial Hospital in Norman: $87 million to create a new facility and expand bed capacity by 100 to 300 beds total.

• Tulsa Center for Behavioral Health: $38 million to create a new facility and expand bed capacity by 106 beds.

• First Responder Behavioral Health: $22.15 million to create a facility that first responders, National Guard members and other military servicemen and women can use for mental health services.

This state-of-the-art holistic health and fitness center would “provide a place for our first responders to go for mental and physical health treatments,” said Rep. Chris Kannady, R-Oklahoma City. “Many of these frontline workers deal with post-traumatic stress issues and need a facility tailored to their specific needs.”

• Department of Public Safety: $2.5 million to buy and create two mobile wellness units that would respond to scenes to help in debriefing first responders.

• J.D. McCarty Center: $6 million to build an outpatient facility for individuals who have autism and other neurodivergent needs. The Norman center works with children who have developmental disabilities and provides them with resources and support to enhance their skills. The McCarty Center provides medical care and physical, occupational and speech and language therapy for children.

• OU Children’s Hospital: $46.9 million to expand emergency room capacity and build long-term in-patient bed capacity for children in mental health crisis.

• Hospital rebuild: $25 million for a grant program to assist in reopening hospitals in communities where one has closed.

• OSU Pharmaceutical: $50 million for a facility to help continue providing research into opioids, how to minimize risks, prevent overdoses and find other ways of managing pain.

• OU’s Stephenson Cancer Center: $20 million in seed money to create a cancer center in Tulsa in partnership with a local hospital.

• Hearts for Hearing: $10 million to help expand the Oklahoma City campus. Hearts for Hearing provides support for children and adults who have sustained hearing loss.

• OSU Nutrition Institute: $50 million for a facility to research the impact of nutrition and exercise on health outcomes.

Water, wastewater

• Oklahoma Water Resources Board: $100 million for a grant program focused on three areas: small towns/rural water districts, medium-large towns/rural water districts and high-need dams.

• Statewide water projects: $130.5 million for targeted statewide water investment.

• Tribal matching funds: $57 million toward a tribal match for projects identified in collaboration with Native American tribes, the secretary of energy and the OWRB.

• Burns Flat Spaceport: $4.25 million for water and broadband needs for the spaceport and surrounding community.

Information technology modernization

• Oklahoma State Department of Health: $26 million to modernize IT capabilities that will enable the health department to provide electronic health records, which would improve communication with clients, staff and external providers.

• University of Oklahoma: $44 million for the University Hospital Authority, OU Health and the OU Health Sciences Center to implement a new electronic record system and modernize the technology infrastructure of OU Health in order to provide Oklahomans with cutting-edge therapies they cannot currently receive.

• Administrative Office of the Courts: $6,226,250 to provide the office with electronic filing, video conferencing, language access and case tracking capabilities.

“The projects submitted by the state Supreme Court are all related to technology and courtrooms across the state,” said Jari Askins, administrator of the state courts system. “If we receive this funding, we will have an opportunity to complete projects such as electronic filing and video conferencing, which will be transformative for those who work in Oklahoma’s court system.”