The Legislature met this week in a special session, which we called last month, to distribute $1.8 billion in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to help Oklahoma’s economy continue to recover from the pandemic.
Last year, the Joint Committee on Pandemic Relief Funding was created to partner with the executive branch to determine how ARPA funds were to be spent. The committee met with public stakeholders, and more than 1,400 projects were submitted by the public to the committee for consideration.
We anticipate hearing six bills on Wednesday to address the workforce shortage in healthcare and nursing, as well as improve rural broadband access, open a children’s behavioral health center and help nonprofits recover from the fundraising hit they took during 2020.
We also took action during our regular legislative session to prepare to distribute federal ARPA funds. The Legislature funded two projects.
House Bill 3349 creates the Statewide Recovery Fund, which will consist of monies appropriated or transferred by the Legislature and monies received by the state pursuant to the ARPA rules. Senate Bill 1495 appropriates $930,206,306 from the ARPA State Fiscal Recovery Fund to the Statewide Recovery Fund.
House Bill 2776 renames the Physician Manpower Training Commission as the Health Care Workforce Training Commission and expands the commission to include other health care professionals. The measure establishes a revolving fund to be used by the commission. The money in the fund must be spent by December 21, 2026, for the purpose of recruiting, educating, and stabilizing Oklahoma’s health care workforce.
The fund will consist of all monies: Received by the state as Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds pursuant to ARPA;
Directed to the state by the federal government for the purpose of recruiting, educating and stabilizing Oklahoma’s health care workforce;
Derived as interest and income from deposits and investments of fund assets; and
Designated for deposit by law. House Bill 2779 appropriates $7.5 million from the Statewide Recovery Fund to the University Hospital Authority for capital expenditures to increase emergency room capacity to help serve patients in mental health crisis.
House Bill 1123 appropriates $2 million to the Oklahoma Broadband Governing Board from the Statewide Recovery Fund. The money will be used for broadband mapping needs. The measure also appropriates an additional $365,068 to the board from the fund for the Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology’s Advanced Fiber Technician Training Program.
Senate Bill 429 appropriates $50 million from the Statewide Recovery Fund to the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) to establish grant programs that facilitate the design, construction, and maintenance of water and wastewater infrastructure, and to improve the condition of publicly owned, deficient dams regulated by the OWRB.
An additional $25 million is appropriated from the Statewide Recovery Fund to the OWRB to promote water conservation, encourage economic longevity, and ensure reliable food supply by converting portions of an open ditch irrigation system to pipe within the Lugert-Altus Irrigation District. The Governor line-item vetoed a provision that would have appropriated $20 million to match tribal investment in rural water infrastructure projects.
Senate Bill 1458 appropriates $55,181,458 from the Statewide Recovery Fund to the Health Care Workforce Development Revolving Fund to establish a grant program with various universities and colleges across the state for the purpose of recruiting, educating, and stabilizing Oklahoma’s health care workforce.
Our special session will meet as necessary to continue identifying projects that will benefit Oklahoma, and I’ll provide updates on those projects as they come forward.
