OKLAHOMA CITY (OBV) – Two bills that provide the Oklahoma Workforce Commission the guidance and funding it needs to coordinate and grow workforce revitalization efforts across the state are now on Gov. Kevin Stitt’s desk, ready to be signed into law.
The Oklahoma Senate passed amended versions of Senate Bill 662 and Senate Bill 663 this week, with SB 662 receiving a 28-18 vote and SB 663 receiving a 25-17 vote.
Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, and Rep. Brian Hill, R-Mustang, wrote both bills.
Both bills support the Workforce Commission’s efforts to revitalize the state’s workforce. SB 662 establishes program lanes that will help guide the Workforce Commission. SB 663 moves the revolving fund that was previously set up for workforce development and housed at the Department of Commerce to the Workforce Commission, which was the ultimate goal for the fund when it was originally established.
Vigorous debate between Pugh and Sen. Shane Jett, R-Shawnee, preceded the vote on SB 662.
Jett alleged that the bill would create unnecessary bureaucratic oversight, data collection and control. He took issue with a part of the bill that gives the Workforce Commission the ability to work with, use and provide data to make decisions on economic development and workforce needs. He also criticized a part of the bill that empowers the Workforce Commission to identify the needs of higher education institutions.
“I can tell you that with my eyes closed. Higher education wants one thing and one thing only, more of your tax dollars,” Jett said.
Jett went on to lambast the bill, saying it diverts attention from tax cuts.
“Instead of giving [taxpayers] meaningful tax cuts, we come up with more and more creative and innovative ways to spend their money because we’re addicted to the narcotic of somebody else’s money,” Jett said.
Jett then accused the bill of being ideologically socialist.
“This is yet another, in my studied assessment, boondoggle of government knows best, that we’re going to use economic development, job creation by taking money from every single wage-earner in the state of Oklahoma because we know how best to spend it from a central government controlled, quite frankly, socialist ideologically, top-down bureaucratic controlled instead of allowing the marketplace to advertise and find those workforce that they need,” Jett said.
Pugh retorted, saying Jett’s comments are not factual.
“It’s once been famously said, members, ‘You’re entitled to your own opinion, you’re not entitled to [your own] facts,'” Pugh said.
Pugh went on to say that Oklahoma spends over $80 million every two years on the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).
“Nobody in this body knows where that money goes or what gets done with it. This (Workforce) Commission would be tasked with ensuring that you all know where that money goes and how your constituents are actually served by it,” Pugh said. “I never thought I’d serve in an organization that doesn’t want to measure success. We spend $13 billion a year in the state budget, and it’s somehow a socialist idea to ask the agencies who spend our taxpayer dollars if they’re doing good things with it? That just doesn’t seem very socialist to me.”
SB 662 was requested by the private sector, Pugh said.
“This was not a bureaucrat asking for this. This was actually a request of the private sector to say, ‘Hey, we think there’s actually money being wasted in workforce development. We think when you go into a community and you spend taxpayer dollars on an economic development project, that there’s no plan for how you’re going to fill those jobs, and it’s actually going to hurt the private sector,'” Pugh said.
Pugh said he understands the concern about data. He then explained that the Workforce Commission would have access to workforce data from a legislative heat map that shows how state funds are being spent, not private citizens’ confidential data.
“This is quantitative data that has to do with workforce numbers. It’s not Social Security information. It’s not personal student information. It’s not individual information. It is, ‘We need 1,000 engineers. The state only produces 700. How do we produce the other 300? What opportunities exist?'” Pugh said.
Pugh then said the bill’s purpose is not to spend taxpayer money.
“It’s about efficient use of the existing money. I’m not asking for more money in higher education. I support higher education, but I’m not asking for more dollars there. I want us to know, ‘Do we need less programs,'” Pugh said.
Both bills originally passed the Senate in March, but returned to the Senate this week after passing the Oklahoma House of Representatives with amendments. SB 662 passed the House with a vote of 67-20, and SB 663 had a vote of 69-17.
A few years ago, the Oklahoma Legislature voted to place $8 million of American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) funds into the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. Senate Bill 663 transfers that money to the Workforce Coordination Revolving Fund.
“This is transferring the authority to expend those funds, which now sit in the Department of Commerce and have not been touched, to the Workforce Commission,” Pugh previously said.
Pugh said the $8 million one-time funding, like the $1 million the legislature gave the Workforce Commission last year.
“If after the Commission’s done the work that we’ve told them to do in Senate Bill 662, and we feel like it hasn’t achieve its purpose, we don’t have to fund it, we can disband it,” Pugh said. “If they’re doing good things at a local level to build out a workforce, which we know is the number one need right now in the state of Oklahoma for our people and our businesses, then I think it would be up to a future body to go ahead and make decisions [on funding].”
Hill spoke in support of the bills in February, saying they are essential to helping the Workforce Commission achieve its mission.
“As a business owner myself, I all to well understand how crucial workforce needs are for businesses in our state. You can’t create a thriving business without a strong workforce,” Hill said. “We need to support our education and workforce system with the tools and resources they need to collaborate and meet out demand.
Together we can build a stronger future for our children, for our families, and for our communities. Standing together, we will move Oklahoma forward.”
Senate Bill 621, written by Pugh and Hill, established the Oklahoma Workforce Commission when it was signed into law in June 2023.
The Workforce Commission works to coordinate the state’s workforce efforts. Their objective is to streamline workforce processes into a more efficient and effective system that will grow the economy and produce greater numbers of skilled workers. Hiring a CEO to coordinate workforce development strategies and initiatives was a primary Workforce Commission goal.
“The Oklahoma Workforce Commission was created to meet the needs of in-demand industries and grow our economy, while ensuring Oklahomans are equipped with the necessary skillset to be successful in these jobs,” Pugh said. “Since I have been in the Senate, one of my main priorities has been to enhance career readiness and connect education to industry so Oklahoma can remain competitive in a modern and rapidly changing economy. I was proud to author this legislation that aims to work toward this goal. I am excited about the announcement of the hiring of Kyla as CEO, and I look forward to working together to improve our state now and for future generations.”
SB 621 was born from research which revealed a workforce deficiency in Oklahoma. A State Chamber of Oklahoma and Business Roundtable joint survey found that 60 percent of Oklahoma’s business community said workforce shortages were the number one threat to business growth and expansion. Chad Warmington, president and CEO of The State Chamber of Oklahoma, and The State Chamber Research Foundation provided Gov. Kevin Stitt and legislators research data which showed that Oklahoma was 36,000 workers deficient in filling available jobs.
It was determined that a new, focused workforce management system was needed to grow the state’s workforce and fill the thousands upon thousands of available jobs.
The Workforce Commission is composed of nine members, each a representative from Oklahoma’s private business sector. It has been meeting since January, gathering information from state officials and leaders across the state’s industrial sectors. The Commission will rely on that information when creating workforce development strategies and administer and oversee funding allocated by the legislature for workforce development initiatives. The commission can contract with outside parties to achieve its goals.
