Speaker Shannon’s Pay-As-You-Go Infrastructure Plan Passes Senate Vote

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Senate overwhelmingly passed House Speaker T.W. Shannon’s initiative to create an a pay-as-you-go infrastructure plan to manage Oklahoma’s infrastructure maintenance needs.

House Bill 1910 creates a pay-as-you-go infrastructure plan and forms the Long-Range Capital Planning Commission (LRCPC), which will first address the repair of the state Capitol and later develop an 8-year plan to address the state’s other maintenance issues. The LRCPC will take the lead in directing the Office of Management and Enterprise Services to liquidate underused assets identified by the Omnibus Asset Consolidation Act and will prioritize what projects proceeds will go toward.

Speaker Shannon’s Omnibus Asset Consolidation Act of 2012 mandated that the Office of Management and Enterprise Services identify the state’s most underutilized assets. The State of Oklahoma is one of the largest property owners in the state.

“It’s time we address our state’s crumbling infrastructure and do so without borrowing against our children’s future,” said Speaker Shannon, R-Lawton. “For too long we have neglected state buildings to point of decay, and now we will have the ability to address these needs without taking on bonds and unnecessary debt.”

HB 1910 will now move on to the desk of Gov. Fallin where it will be signed into law.