OKLAHOMA STATE SENATE / From the desk of Sen. Jessica Garvin
We’ve hit the ground running in 2024 with numerous budget hearings scheduled in the next two weeks as we continue work on the FY’25 budget. These are public and streamed live on the Senate website, so I encourage those who are interested in how our state agencies are using their current funding and what their plans are for the coming year to tune in.
As a member of the Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, our chairman Sen. Paul Rosino tasked me with doing a deep dive into the budgets of the Office of Juvenile Affairs (OJA), the Department of Rehabilitative Services (DRS), and the Oklahoma State University Medical Authority (OSUMA). I’ve been reviewing their FY’24 expenditures to ensure their funding has been spent according to their budget requests last year. Additionally, I met with these agencies to better understand their FY’25 budget requests for next year, and then provided an in-depth report of those requests to my fellow committee members. This is part of the Senate’s new budgeting process and has been a great learning experience to familiarize myself more with the inner workings of these agencies and the supports and services they provide for Oklahomans.
We’re also working to get all our bills filed by the deadline on January 18. So far, I’ve introduced nearly 30, including one to provide a $500 income tax credit for the purchase of firearm safety devices costing over $1,000 and a $250 credit for those under that amount. Oklahoma is a strong Second Amendment state and I proudly support this right and want to provide an incentive for individuals to safely store their firearms and other weapons.
I’ve also filed legislation to provide a sales tax exemption for the sale of tangible property to our state’s heroes receiving a disability retirement benefit from the Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement System, Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System, Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System, or Oklahoma wildlife conservation retirement system for a disability incurred in the line of duty.
Another one of my endeavors is the Thrive Act to make school districts with 40% or more of their student population opting into the community eligibility provision of the National School Lunch Program eligible for a certain per meal reimbursement based on the school district’s enrollment. Another school-related bill would create the Oklahoma Farm to School Program to provide grants to our farmers and other producers to increase their capacity to produce locally grown farm-fresh products for school districts.
Once again, I’ll also be working to create the Feminine Hygiene Program to allow local health departments to apply to the State Health Department for funds to distribute feminine hygiene products. One aspect I’ve added to this initiative is providing a sales tax exemption for the sale of female hygiene products to 501(c)(3) organizations that provide these products free of charge directly to Oklahomans in need.
We’ll discuss more of my bills next week. If you have any questions or concerns about my bills or other legislative matters, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I can be reached at the Capitol by writing to Senator Jessica Garvin, State Capitol, 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd. Room 237, Oklahoma City, OK, 73105, emailing [email protected] or calling 405-521-5522.
