Notes from House activity 5-23-13

May 24, 2013 / / No comments

Below are notes taken during the House Floor session and committee meetings on Thursday, May 23, 2013. It is not a complete transcript of everything that was said. You can watch the video of the Floor session on the House website.

Morning Floor session

CCR to SB1030 by Wright: request from DAs Council, allows DAs to purchase cars through state’s Central Purchasing

Reynolds: what was the original intent of the bill? Wright: this is a committee substitute. The original bill dealt with victim impact statements.

Reynolds: I’m not sure on the rules, is this germane? Chair: according to Joint Rules, it is up to the Chamber of origin to determine germaneness.

Reynolds: is this a new benefit for DAs? Wright: no. Reynolds: will they be able to use their cars for purposes they can’t right now? Wright: no.

Proctor: so some DAs are doing this already? Wright: yes and this clarifies DAs are the same as other law enforcement agencies when it comes to car purchases.

Glenn: are we setting precedent where legislators can get vehicles? Wright: no, sir.

Ritze: how is this going to be accounted for? Will there be a log or device to ensure its only for business purposes? Wright: it’s the same as with Troopers. Ritze: can you tell us what the fiscal impact will be? Wright: they have to pay for it out of their existing budget. » Read more..

Categories: Bonds and Debt, Budget & Taxes, Committee meeting notes, Common Education, Courts and Legal issues, Department of Corrections, District Attorneys, Energy, Floor session notes, Health care, Highway Patrol, Pensions, Public Safety /

Notes from House activity 5-22-13

May 23, 2013 / / No comments

Below are notes taken during the House Floor session and committee meetings on Wednesday, May 22, 2013. It is not a complete transcript of everything that was said. You can watch the video of the Floor session on the House website.

Floor session

CCR to HB1919 by Shannon, McCullough presenting: tax deduction for parents taking in a foster child.

Cox: is the deduction per child? McCullough: right now it’s one deduction no matter how many foster children.

Morrissette: is there already a federal tax deduction for this? McCullough: I don’t know. Morrissette: what is the fiscal impact? McCullough: estimated $510K in the first year.

Reynolds: wasn’t this bill originally a tax deduction for a church? McCullough: I don’t know. Perhaps it changed in Senate committee before it became over. Reynolds: how many people itemize rather than take the standard deduction? McCullough: I don’t know.

Brown: what other incentives are there in this bill for people to become foster families? McCullough: it’s just the tax deduction.

CCR adopted by voice vote

Bill passes 86-1
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CCR to HB1917 by Shannon, Jordan presenting: restores title. Requires state agencies to produce contingency plan for loss of federal funding. » Read more..

Categories: Banking, Budget & Taxes, Committee meeting notes, DHS, Elections, Floor session notes, Health care, Legislature, ODOT, Second Amendment, Veterans and Military /

Notes from House activity 5-21-13

May 22, 2013 / / No comments

Below are notes taken during the House Floor session and committee meetings on Tuesday, May 21, 2013. It is not a complete transcript of everything that was said. You can watch the video of the Floor session on the House website.

Note: During the morning Floor session, no bills were heard out of respect to the events of the previous day in Moore. Members did pray and sing Amazing Grace.

GCCA

SB166 by Sears: this is an issue for the oil and gas industry. Clarifies property being taxed for ad valorem. When you repeal there is no impact because it hasn’t been collected before.

Jeff Wilson, OIPA: helps small oil and gas producers. This credit has been in statue for a long time. Went away in 2012. It’s a depreciation schedule for assets like wellheads. It’s not a tax credit so much as a tax deduction.

Dorman: is this a shucked bill? Sears: this was a shell bill that didn’t go forward.

Morrissette: I believe under Joint Rules, if this is challenged on the House Floor, this will be considered not germane. Sears: I can’t predict the future. Martin: this is GCCA so you can sign or not sign as you see fit. I don’t think it’s my place to rule on germaneness. You can do that on the Floor as you so desire. » Read more..

Categories: Agriculture, Budget & Taxes, Committee meeting notes, Courts and Legal issues, Floor session notes, Water issues /

Notes from House activity 5-20-13

May 21, 2013 / / No comments

Below are notes taken during the House Floor session and committee meetings on Monday, May 20, 2013. It is not a complete transcript of everything that was said. You can watch the video of the Floor session on the House website.

Morning Floor session

CCR to HB1932 by Jackson: you’ve seen this before, this is the compromise language.

Amendments adopted by voice vote.

Bill passes 72-0
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—–

House Joint A&B Committee meeting

SB1132 by Scott Martin, Newell presenting: directs use funds for three years to Native American Cultural Center starting in 2015.

Martin: I know you are fairly new on the job, how long have you been there? Blake Wade: two years. We raised $40-million in private funds. Still have it intact depending on how we do this week. Martin: when did the project originally start? Wade: 1994. Martin: what was the original cost? Wade: originally it was to be a third state, a third federal and a third private. Total around $100-million. Martin: there was an editorial in favor of the project. It said the costs might rise over the three years the state funding comes in. What is your response? Wade: there will not be another cent of state money to go into this. Martin: what is your comment to the legislature that we’ve already appropriated about $90-million. Wade: there is $91-million in the ground and its 50% finished. Martin: there has been a lot of talk about employee pay raises. We are taking cash that would otherwise go to general appropriations and finish this. What is your argument that spending the money on this is better than having the $15M for next year on Highway Patrol salaries? Wade: I believe we don’t get the money next year. We wouldn’t get any until July, 2014. I understand what employees mean and never should we interfere with that.  » Read more..

Categories: Budget & Taxes, Committee meeting notes, Common Education, Courts and Legal issues, Floor session notes /

Where do the Medicaid dollars go?

May 17, 2013 / / No comments

OHCA logoOklahoma’s Medicaid system spends nearly five-billion dollars per year, but where does that money go? According to the Health Care Authority’s most recent annual report, most of the money goes to nearly 40,000 health care providers with $112-million being spent on administration.

On April 2, I submitted an Open Records request for the top 25 vendors in each category of Medicaid payments and the top 50 vendors if the payments exceeded one-million dollars. Last week, I received the data from the Health Care Authority. You can click here for a spreadsheet showing the breakdown by category of service provided.

Because vendors can offer services in different categories and may have multiple locations that show up separately on the list, I combined all of the information into one spreadsheet with one total per vendor.  That list has 406 vendors which accounts for almost two-billion dollars. » Read more..

Categories: Budget & Taxes, Health care /
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