Rep. John Talley, District 33
(Oklahoma City, OK) — I hope everybody had a great Memorial Day. I’m so glad we celebrate this holiday because it reminds us to take the focus off ourselves and redirect it to how we got here. If it wasn’t for the sacrifice of our veterans, we would not have the freedoms we have.
On Monday, I had the honor of speaking at Cushing City Hall, Cushing’s Fairlawn Cemetery, and the Euchee Valley Cemetery. I had the opportunity to share stories about my two uncles who survived a Japanese prison camp. I also talked about the trip to Normandy, France that several of my colleagues and I took last year, where we got to walk on Omaha and Utah beaches.
While I was there, I visited the graves of two people from Cushing who gave their lives and are buried at the cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach. I cannot describe what it was like laying wreaths in their honor. Being in that spot reminds you of the enormous courage and sacrifice of our veterans.
To honor people in our lives who served, remember specific details of their life that you want to carry on and share those with other people. Please ask veterans for stories about their lives before it’s too late because they are a wealth of knowledge and experience.
I returned to the State Capitol on Monday afternoon to continue working on the state budget. After months of work and numerous public negotiations, the Legislature passed a $12.47B state budget and adjourned sine die Thursday. I think the FY2025 budget we approved is fiscally responsible. It covers many areas of concern while leaving us plenty of money in savings for the next downturn in the economy.
Since 2018, we’ve invested a record $1.5B in new funding to public K-12 education. This year, in addition to putting $25M in new funding into the school funding formula, we also appropriated money to pay student teachers and cover the costs for student assessments. We granted CareerTech $27.6M to address their waitlist, as well as $240M to new OU and OSU engineering and science facilities and $20M for OSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine animal diagnostics lab.
Public safety continues to be a top priority for House Republicans, and we supported our law enforcement heroes again in our budget this year. DPS will receive $74M to complete their new training facility in Lincoln County and $2.5M to train more Highway Patrol troopers. OSBI will also receive $27.5M for their new headquarters building. We also included $18M to provide county sheriffs and deputies with much-needed pay raises.
In transportation and infrastructure, we appropriated $350M for deferred maintenance at state properties, state parks, and public colleges and universities. The governor has already signed legislation granting $45M in disaster relief to help counties impacted by tornadoes and other severe weather. Additionally, we approved $200M to the RETRO Fund to support rural communities and $12.7M to leverage federal funding in community water supply. We also outlined $50M to upgrade severely damaged levees along the Arkansas River in northeast Oklahoma, as well as $41M for airport economic development projects.
This was a very long but productive session, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve House District 33 at the State Capitol. As always, feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns you may have. My office phone is (405) 557-7304 and my email is [email protected]. Thank you, and God bless!
