Culver gives Capitol update

OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Bob Ed Culver, R-Tahlequah, said the House and Senate began hearing budget bills; first in the Joint Committee on Appropriations & Budget, and then on the floor of each chamber.

Gov. Kevin Still would still have to sign the budget bills in order for those to take effect.

The main appropriations bill, House Bill 2766, details funding for various state agencies for fiscal year 2026. More than 50 additional measures set funding limits for the agencies and the specific programs that are administered.

These include measures that would deliver a 3% increase to public education, 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," Culver said.

Culver added that they stabilize funding at the Department of Mental Health even while many different entities continue to examine the financial problems at this agency.

"We don't want services to suffer or employees not be paid, but we do have to get to the bottom of what happened here and make sure it won't happen again," he said.

Meanwhile, counties will receive up to $4,000 per mile for improvements to county roads, and up to $25 million to rebuild or replace dilapidated bridges.

"We'll also get about $3 million more in Rural Economic Action Plan (REAP) grants," Culver said.

One representative from the southeastern part of the state described how this money went toward funding a community storm shelter in his area, and how that saved people when a tornado was bearing down.

Culver said one of the best features of the budget is a quarter-percent income tax cut for those in the top three brackets and a zeroing out of income tax for the remaining three brackets. This means the lowest earners will now pay nothing.

"We have a path to zero income tax for everyone, but only if we can ensure revenue remains at a level where we can protect core services," Culver said.

Also announced this week is a program that would offer rebates to Emirates Global Aluminum (EGA), or another qualified manufacturer, to build an aluminum smelter in Oklahoma. To qualify, the manufacturer would be required to invest at least $2 billion and create 700 new manufacturing and other jobs in the first year (increasing to 1,000 in the second year and beyond).

That's not to mention the thousands of additional jobs and other businesses that could be created across the supply chain.

Aluminum produced in Oklahoma could support the aerospace and defense sectors — among Oklahoma's fastest growing industries — as well as automotive, food and beverage and other critical industries.

"If it works out, this could be very good for our state," Culver said.

Anyone needing assistance from Culver are asked to call his Capitol office at 405-557-7408 or email him at bob.culver@okhouse.gov.

— Submitted by Rep. Bob Ed Culver