We had a great time on Wednesday, April 24, during Capitol Cowboy Day when we recognized Oklahoma State University. John Smith received recognition on the House floor, and we also heard from Dr. Kayse Shrum, the 19th president of OSU.

Over 100 OSU alumni, students, and supporters came to the Capitol wearing orange to advocate for their land-grant institution, which is also the largest university system in the state.

We spent the rest of the week finalizing the hearing of Senate Bills on the House floor. As I’ve mentioned earlier, lawmakers shift their focus to the state budget the last few weeks of session.

Speaker McCall and Chairman Wallace revealed their proposed $12.63 billion FY25 budget last week. This budget reflects constituents’ priorities and is the result of collaboration with agency heads, legislative budget hearings, and committees.

As part of our efforts to keep our budget transparent, the House set up an easy-to-use Budget Transparency Portal. It provides the public with easy access to real-time updates on budget negotiations. You can check it out on the House website (okhouse.gov) and see where budget negotiations stand in real-time.

This online dashboard allows lawmakers, agency officials, and members of the public to compare each chamber’s official budget proposal without any headaches. State agency requests are also available. Now, taxpayers can easily track where every dollar goes and better understand how things work. The portal will be updated whenever changes or agreements are made.

Passing a state budget is one of the most important parts of our job. It’s actually the only thing that the Oklahoma Constitution requires us to do. We have until the last Friday in May to deliver a general appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2025, which starts on July 1, to the governor’s desk.

So far, two bills I authored, House Bill 3085 and House Bill 1805, have been sent to the governor for consideration. When a bill reaches the governor’s desk, he has three options. He can sign it, making it a law. He can veto it, sending it back to the Legislature. Or, he can choose to take no action. If he takes no action for five days during legislative session, it becomes law without his signature.

I will keep everyone updated on the governor’s signing of bills and on the budget process in the coming weeks. As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to me with any concerns at 405-557-7302 or neil. hays@okhouse.gov.

Rep. Neil Hays, a Republican, serves District 13 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, which covers Mc-Intosh, Muskogee and Wagoner County.