Now that our oversight committee deadline has passed,ourwork is increasing on the House floor. To date, we’ve passed 58 bills in the House. Thosenowmove to the state Senate. If they pass as they are in that chamber, they move to the governor for his consideration of signing them into law. If the Senate amends a bill, it comes back to the House for final passage.
The next three weeks will be interesting, and we could see some long days in the chamber.
One of my own bills passed overwhelmingly in the House this past week. House Bill 1663 would permit county treasurers to conduct their yearly sale of delinquent tax property – also referred to as the June resale – through an online auction process instead of just in person at the county courthouse. The goal is to get these delinquent properties back in private hands so taxes can be paid on them as this money supports our public schools.
Another bill that passed in the House this week would remove financial eligibility requirements for children of longtime public school teachers seeking to participate in the Oklahoma’s Promise Scholarship. It’s hoped this will serve as an incentive to keep teachers in the classroom where they are so desperately needed. It’s also known that many children of educators are likely to follow in their parents’ footsteps, so this might grow our teacher ranks in the future.
We raised teacher pay several times over the last few years, and we’ve added additional money to improve classroom conditions. Of course, we know there’s always a call to do more. But this bill is a positive step toward making college more accessible to more Oklahoma kids.
On the bad news front for the week, House leadership has asked the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency (LOFT) to investigate reports of financial mismanagement at the State Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. The agency is under a new leader who has raised concerns about troubling patterns spanning years. The LOFT investigation is in addition to the call for a forensic audit of the agency to determine the cause and scope of theproblemandtosuggestsolutions to preventing it from continuing.
It’s never fun to hear about an issue of this nature, but I’m glad we’ve caught it now and am hopeful we can stop any further waste or abuse going forward.
Remember, if I can help you with anything, please do not hesitate to reach out: (405) 557-7383 or Josh. Cantrell@OKHouse.gov.
Josh Cantrell serves District 49 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. His district includes Love County and parts of Carter and Marshall counties.