2025 State Budget Negotiations, House & Senate Trade Ultimatums

Negotiations for the 2025 state budget are heating up as the House and Senate trade ultimatums. Negotiations between the three parties are always part of the process but due to the Senate's budget transparency push this year, the negotiations are happening out in the open instead of behind closed doors.

Friday, April 5th 2024, 3:32 pm

By: News 9, Haley Weger

OKLAHOMA -

Negotiations for the 2025 state budget are heating up as the House and Senate trade ultimatums.

Negotiations between the three parties are always part of the process but due to the Senate's budget transparency push this year, the negotiations are happening out in the open instead of behind closed doors.

The main issue that House Speaker Charles McCall is concerned about is the 2024 teacher pay raise. 47 schools weren’t reimbursed for that raise because of confusion with the written law.

Pro tem Greg Treat says the House delivered a budget of $3.3 billion more than the Senate's number without details on where those dollars would go.

Now claiming his counterparts across the rotunda, aren't committed to the budget transparency that the Senate started.

But the Senate won’t hear any House budget bills until they get those details and numbers.

House Speaker Charles McCall says it’s just a communication issue.

Both sides now say they’re hoping the ultimatums can turn back to productive negotiations.

Haley Weger

Haley Weger joined the News 9 team as a multi-media journalist in August 2022. She came to OKC from Lake Charles, Louisiana. Haley began her career as a producer and multi-media reporter and then transitioned to a morning anchor position. While she was in Louisiana, Haley covered an array of news topics, and covered multiple hurricanes on the coast.