New Bill Could Help Retain More Officers, Firefighters But Also Impact Taxes

A new state bill is aiming to improve public safety for Oklahomans. Senate Bill 838 was passed by the state House and Senate this week.

The bill now heads to Gov. Stitt’s desk to be signed as early as Monday.

Tulsa firefighter Matt Lay said the city has been fighting for years to have more stable funding for safety services, especially after the 2009 recession. 

"That resulted in the layoffs of 135 police officers and 147 firefighters,” Tulsa Firefighters Local 176 president Matt Lay said. “The reason was a decline in sales tax revenue and anytime there is a decrease in spending, we are impacted."

The Public Safety Protection Bill aims to fix that. The bill gives city or county voters the ability to vote on funding police and fire through increasing property taxes.

This would mainly be for when a city is in crisis and would only affect areas where a 60 percent majority voted 'yes'.

House representative John Waldron said both Democrats and Republicans were in favor of the bill.  

"I think Democrats want responsible government like everybody else and that means when there is an economic downturn, we don’t want to lose 200 cops,” Waldron said.

Senator Dave Rader is a co-author of the bill and said the voters have full control. 

"What the legislature is saying 'It’s up to you cities,' and if you want to give this a go, we have opened up the door for you,” Rader said.

Tulsa fire and police departments said this bill will not only allow them to retain employees, but also buy more equipment.