Tense budget negotiations leave DPS chief concerned about funding for a training facility
The head of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety said Monday he was concerned the final version of the state's FY 25 budget would not include funding to finish a tactical law enforcement training facility.
Public Safety Commissioner Tim Tipton said Monday that last week's budget summit left him concerned that the state would reduce or eliminate the funding needed to complete the facility. Last year, state lawmakers earmarked $59 million for the first phase of a tactical training facility that would be used to train Oklahoma Highway Patrol officers, officers from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and those from the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.
Total cost for the project would be more than $133 million.
On Monday, Tipton told The Oklahoman he was concerned by statements made by Senate Majority Leader Greg McCortney. During a budget hearing last week, McCortney said he believed lawmakers "need to put a pause on the entire thing (the Department of Public Safety training center)."
"It's not too late to adjust from a bad decision," said McCortney, a Republican from Ada. "I believe it was presented in two phases because no one would have approved the amount of spending that was actually going to be proposed."
The more eyes that review the project, McCortney said, "the more questions there are about this being a wise use of state funding."
"We're doubling a workload, we're doubling FTEs that could be combined together," he said. "We have assets in the state that can do many of these things."
Tipton said on Monday he was surprised McCortney wanted to pause the entire project. "I've never seen political posturing in my time that has to do with posturing on the side of defunding law enforcement on a project that's already been funded," he said.
Tipton said the department currently trains new troopers at various spots across the state including on a runway in Burns Flat. "It's really not set up to be a driving course," he said. "It's a runway."
Tipton said work has already begun on the first phase of the project. He said the land purchase was completed in May and an architectural and engineering firm had been hired to begin the preliminary drawings which should be completed by late July.
"The project is ahead of schedule," he said. "It's staged to be completed in 24 to 36 months. Things are on track."
Tense budget negotiations have meant uncertainty for funding for projects
Tipton's concern appears to be well founded. For several weeks, budget negotiations between the House, Senate and the governor's office have been terse and, at times, difficult. Often projects are placed on hold, later removed and even later restored to the budget during the process.
"The budget process is always fluid, always changing," state Rep. Mark McBride, a Moore Republican, said earlier this year.
Still, even with the ongoing process, Tipton said he was astonished by the idea of clawing back a project that had already cleared both Houses of the Legislature and was signed by governor.
"It is astonishing to me that the soon-to-be pro tempore of the Oklahoma Senate would take a position to not only stop this critical training need, but to go back and defund what has already been done," he said.
For his part, McCortney said he was "not anywhere close to believing there is not a need for some facilities to be built."
"But I think there can be a significantly better plan," he said. "The more this plan comes out from the darkness, I believe we can do better than this."
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma budget summit leaves leaders concerned projects may be left out
