The House and Senate this week passed a number of budget bills, first in the Joint Committee on Appropriations & Budget (JCAB), and then on the floor in each chamber. The governor will need to sign them before they become law.
The main appropriations bill is House Bill 2766, which details funding for various state agencies for Fiscal Year 2026. More than 50 additional measures set certain parameters for the agencies and the specific programs they administer.
These include bills that establish funding for public schools, colleges, universities and CareerTechs, state and county roads and bridges, health and mental health care services, for National Guard projects and military base protections, and much more.
One of the biggest bills to pass in the House was a quarter-percent reduction of the state income tax in the top three brackets and the eliminationofincometaxaltogether in the remaining three brackets. We also put in place a path to zero income tax as long as revenue remains high in future years.
Even with this cut to income tax, we will still be able to provide a 3% increase to public education funding, including $26 million directly to the school funding formula, more money for teacher flexible benefits allowances, a new step pay raise for teachers with more than 25 years of experience, and $9.3 million more for CareerTech enrollment expansion.
We’ve dedicated $250 million for a state-of the art veterinary hospital at the Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine, and $200 million for the world-class pediatric hospital at OU Health.
We’re stabilizing funding at the Department of Mental Health even while we continue to look into the financial problems at this agency. We don’t want services to suffer or employees not be paid while we get tothebottomofwhathappenedhere and what we need to do to ensure better practices going forward.
Our counties will benefit by receiving up to $4,000 per mile for country roads and $25 million additional for dilapidated bridges. And we’ve boosted by $3 million our Rural Economic Action Plan (REAP) grants. One representative this week described how this money went toward funding a community storm shelter in his area, and how that saved people this week during severe weather.
There are a lot of good things in this budget, and we will still will have about $3.5 billion in savings to help get us through any potential economic downturn.
Each legislative chamber is still busy considering bills amended by the opposite chamber, and we’re starting to hear bills that have been through the conference committee process.
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.