CAPITOL BRIEFS
Capitol briefs

Published: May 25, 2007

Legislators approved a bill Thursday that would generate about $1 million a year for programs providing services for victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse.

House Bill 1282 would create a $3 fee on all criminal and civil court filings. The measure goes to the governor.

Legislators earlier set aside a $500,000 increase for the programs during the upcoming fiscal year. The increase — the first in 13 years — fell short of the $3 million requested. The 29 state-certified programs receive about $4 million annually in state money.

The bill cleared both houses in the same day. The House of Representatives approved the measure 89-8 in the morning; the Senate approved it 45-1 in the afternoon.

"We're thrilled,” said Marcia Smith, executive director of the Oklahoma Coalition against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. "Demand for services is increasing, both in the numbers of people who need services and in the kinds of services they require.”

About 600 victims were turned away last year in the state because of lack of services, Smith said.

Attorney General Drew Edmondson, who joined with service providers to ask for additional funding, thanked legislators, especially Sen. Jonathan Nichols, R-Norman, who originally came up with the fee idea.

"He absolutely went to the mat for these programs,” Edmondson said. "I cannot thank him enough.”

A last-minute attempt to allow legislative leaders instead of a bipartisan commission to hire the director of the Oklahoma Criminal Justice Resource Center was stalled late Thursday night when the bill was tabled in the House.

The legislation would give the speaker of the House and president pro tempore of the Senate the authority to appoint the center director. The position, currently held by K.C. Moon, today is filled by the Oklahoma Sentencing Commission.

Rep. Gus Blackwell, a member of the Sentencing Commission, said the center serves the Legislature, so it makes sense for lawmakers to pick its director.

Blackwell, R-Goodwell, said Senate Bill 217's intent was not to replace Moon or to politicize the center.

Other lawmakers, however, described the legislation as an attempt to fire Moon.

"This is a ‘get rid of K.C. Moon' bill,” said Sen. Richard Lerblance, D-Hartshorne, who also serves on the commission. "We've not had a problem. I don't see a need for a change.”

House members voted 61-35 to table acceptance of the conference committee report for Senate Bill 217, meaning the bill did not receive a final vote. Blackwell told members he may try to bring the bill up today. Lawmakers must adjourn by 5 p.m. today, and any bills not approved will die.

Moon said putting the leaders of the House and Senate instead of the Sentencing Commission in charge of hiring the center's director would tarnish the commission's independence.

"The only value of a commission is to be independent,” said Moon, who listened to the Senate vote while sitting in the Senate office of Lerblance, the chairman of the Sentencing Commission.

Moon said he was surprised by the legislation, saying he had received no complaints from the 15-member commission, which is made up of judges, prosecutors and lawmakers of both political parties.

Gov. Brad Henry is not expected to sign a $6.9 billion general appropriations budget until next week at the earliest, a spokesman for the governor said Thursday.

The governor's office has not yet received the bill, which was approved Wednesday night by the House of Representatives, said Paul Sund, a Henry spokesman. The Senate approved it earlier.

The governor said he would sign the budget for the 2008 fiscal year when an agreement on the package was reached last week.

Henry could consider vetoing items outside the budget agreement, but he would not veto entire agency budgets, Sund said.

The governor has 15 days to act on bills passed in the final five days of the legislative session. If he fails to act after 15 days, he exercises what is called a pocket veto and the bill is killed.

Sund said there is no urgency to sign the budget bill immediately because the new fiscal year doesn't begin until July 1.

The $6.9 billion funds all the state agencies, many at essentially the same levels as this fiscal year. Another bill includes additional one-time funds, bringing the total budget to about $7.1 billion.

A bill spending most of the remaining money for the 2008 fiscal year was sent to the governor late Thursday.

The legislation would spend about $140 million in what many lawmakers call one-time funds, or appropriations that are given just this year and are typically for specific projects.

When added to the more than $6.9 billion general appropriations budget already approved by the Legislature, it completes the nearly $7.1 billion budget for the next fiscal year, which starts July 1.

About $30 million was left unspent and could be used when lawmakers return to the Capitol next year to fill in any gaps in agency budgets.

Several House members questioned funding for colleges and universities within the bill, while another claimed the law was unconstitutional because it lumped funding for numerous projects into one measure to force its passage. Nevertheless, the bill passed the House by a vote of 88-8. It passed the Senate 44-2.

Capitol Bureau