OKPOLICY.ORG
Statement from OK Policy Executive Director Shiloh Kantz:
A state budget deal announced on April 1 raises a few eyebrows, but the real concern to Oklahoma taxpayers isn’t the timing — it’s the process.
Once again, legislative leaders are keeping Oklahoma’s budget process among the least transparent in the nation. A handful of lawmakers have negotiated in closed rooms how they intend to spend billions of taxpayer dollars. These decisions were made in private, shutting out the public and most lawmakers, including members of their own party.
Oklahomans deserve better.
In meetings with lawmakers last week, one member of the majority said to me, “The hallmark of good government is transparency.” So imagine my surprise when this agreement is announced whole cloth without input from the public and most lawmakers.
The state budget determines funding for schools, roads, health care, public safety, and more — yet Oklahoma’s legislative leadership is still making these decisions behind closed doors. That’s not how a government accountable to its people should operate. Oklahomans deserve to see the full process, not just the final result.
Leaders say they’ll try to post budget bills with 24 hours’ notice, but that’s not enough time for the public – or most lawmakers who weren’t in those back rooms – to read, understand, and give feedback.
Oklahomans deserve a real chance to see what’s in the budget and speak up before it’s final. Anything less falls short of the trust taxpayers place in their leaders.
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Background
Legislative leaders on Wednesday announced that the House and Senate reached an agreement between the two chambers and the governor’s office on the state budget for Fiscal Year 2027, which starts on July 1, 2026.
OK Policy previously has found that Oklahoma has one of the nation’s least transparent budget processes.
To make the process more transparent, OK Policy has recommended the following steps:
- First, create a single, shared budget portal that shows proposals from the House, the Senate, and the governor — alongside agency requests — all in one place.
- Second, commit to releasing the final budget at least seven days before any vote, giving lawmakers and citizens time to actually read it.
- Third, hold budget discussions in public settings so that more lawmakers — and the people who elected them — can see what is being decided and why.
The House Budget Portal lists proposed agency funding for FY 2027. The Senate also publishes a budget dashboard.
