Oklahoma Democrats highlight concerns about state budget transparency

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (KOKH) — Democrats in the Oklahoma legislature are raising their concerns about what the state budget could look like this year.

Democratic leadership held a press conference on Tuesday to speak on funding concerns they have on everything from healthcare to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol to education as power in how the state budget is crafted rests mainly in the hands of Republicans.

“Oklahomans are really drowning and we’re not throwing them a rope right now,” Senate Minority Leader Julia Kirt (D-Oklahoma City) said.

As Oklahoma lawmakers enter their second month of the 2026 legislative session, budget negotiations and conversations are intensifying in what is expected to be a tight budget year.

Democrats say transparency is lacking from their Republican colleagues.

“There’s so many major troubles in the public eye around our budget when it comes to affording homes, affording childcare, being able to find the healthcare they need, and we are not seeing transparency from our Republican colleagues,” Kirt said.

Kirt said years of tax cuts have left the state with no flexibility coming into this year.

“We’ve had an estimated 1.6 billion in tax cuts in the last five years limiting our options a lot,” she said. “And so when we see these challenges what are we gonna see in terms of solutions? We have not had that transparency to give you any idea what’s happening but we wanna raise the alarm that it’s gonna be too late for people to chime in if they don’t speak up now about what they think the priorities should be.”

House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson (D-Oklahoma City) echoed the same sentiment.

“We’ve heard rumors about cuts to agencies and that there will be flat budgets, but we know that they will go deeper as years go on if the legislature doesn’t get it together and figure out a way to increase revenue to pay for core functions of government,” Munson said.

About a month and a half ago, Republican State Senators proposed a $254 million funding plan that would redirect funds from the Teacher Retirement System.

“I find myself wondering how we will pay for this massive package we’re talking about, the third grade reading and math initiatives that we have set in play and have been highlighted as cornerstones of what we hope to accomplish this session. And it’s exciting and terrifying at the same time. The final price tag of those things continues to swing from one extreme to the other,” State Rep. Melissa Provenzano (D-Tulsa) said.

Right now, nothing concrete has been announced on what the final budget number will be.