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State legislators, failing to agree on what to do with nearly $7 billion before time ran out Friday, face a more serious deadline: July 1, when state government would shut down without an approved budget.

Legislation this session

Gov. Brad Henry and legislative leaders say that won't happen.

"We're very, very close," Henry said. "I really believe if we can give everybody a chance to cool off for a period of time then we'll be able to come back and hammer this out very quickly."

The governor said he will keep legislators, who are expected to return in special session in mid-June, focused on crafting a budget. His special session call limits the agenda to budget matters, including revenue, tax relief, appropriations and other fiscal matters.

Some have said the call is too broad. Already more than a dozen legislators have sent letters asking Henry to amend the special session call to take up issues as varied as immigration, lawsuit reform and the weight limit of trucks. Legislators claim each issue has something to do with fiscal matters.

"It is limited to budgetary matters and that certainly is a category that is fairly broad," Henry said. "It does not include any matter that potentially has a fiscal impact. That's not what the special session is about.

"I empathize with legislators who weren't able to complete their work during the regular session, but our focus must be and will be on completing the budget in special session," he said. "I will not allow a government shutdown come July 1. We will get the budget done and we're not going to be distracted by a whole host of other issues."

House Speaker Todd Hiett, R-Kellyville, and Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Morgan, D-Stillwater, said they think an agreement will be in place to prevent a shutdown.

Lawmakers had been locked in a budget stalemate since April. Budget talks began in earnest two weeks ago after Henry came up with a compromise budget.

The disagreement focuses on how to spend about $1 billion in extra money. Republicans like tax cuts while Democrats want to make sure state services are funded adequately.

The governor said he did not regret trying to intercede earlier.

"If we had done it earlier, it may have caused additional problems," Henry said. "The timing of our compromise was pretty good. Once we put our compromise on the table everybody began to talk again and we made constant progress."

Until legislators return in special session, key legislative leaders and the governor will discuss details. Lawmakers will return after an agreement is written and staff have transferred the numbers to appropriation bills.

Estimates put the cost of a special session at $32,800 a day. Legislators met briefly in special session each of the last two days of the regular session to get the process started. As a result, they could get their work done in three special session days at an estimated cost of $98,400. It takes a minimum of five days to pass a bill into law.

Hiett called the lawmakers' inability to reach a budget agreement a failure to do the job they are elected to do.

"This is an unneeded and irresponsible use of the taxpayers' money," he said.

Morgan said House members refused to discuss anything but tax cuts.

"We spent four months talking about budget issues and they spent four months talking about tax cuts," he said.

This isn't the first time a Legislature failed to finish a major portion of its budget work and was forced into a special session. In 1921, the House of Representatives, controlled for the first time by Republicans, adjourned without passing most of the appropriation bills. They were called back into special session and finished the job.

Henry's compromise, prepared during a weekend by him and his budget negotiator, state Treasurer Scott Meacham, calls for cutting Oklahoma's income tax rate from 6.25 percent to 5.5 percent. It also calls for phasing out the estate tax, speeding up a program to raise teacher pay to the regional average and depositing $150 million in a research endowment fund.

Hiett embraced the plan, despite originally calling for a reduction to 4.9 percent.

But Democrats who control the Senate rejected it, saying such large tax cuts would mortgage the state's future.

Morgan offered an alternative tax cut that would increase the standard deduction on Oklahoma's income tax to the same level as the federal deduction. That tax relief would help more Oklahomans, especially those on the lower end of the pay scale, Senate leaders said.

Senate Democrats also want a $3,000 across-the-board pay raise. Henry's plan would give teachers an average $2,400 pay increase.

Noting this is an election year, Henry urged lawmakers to set aside politics during the special session. Henry is seeking re-election and Hiett is running for lieutenant governor; several legislators are candidates for other offices.

"We have a job to do and the Legislature has a job to do and that's to write a budget," he said. "We shouldn't waste time worrying about politics. We need to get a budget put together."