A few passing clouds. Hot. Low 69F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

A few passing clouds. Hot. Low 69F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A legislative oversight committee on Tuesday approved earmarking over a $1 billion, or the bulk of the state's remaining share of the American Rescue Plan Act funding.

Following Tuesday's 45 new project approvals, lawmakers have spent about 95% of Oklahoma's share of federal funding aimed at helping states recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The expenditures will still need approval from the full Legislature and Gov. Kevin Stitt.

The 45 projects approved Tuesday ran the gamut from increasing health care and child care access to improving rural water and broadband infrastructure and training the next generation of Oklahoma's workforce in careers like trucking, manufacturing, biopharmaceuticals and aviation.

Some of the projects approved Tuesday include:

-- $467 million for broadband expansion.

-- $130 million in targeted water investments in communities across the state.

-- $60 million to create grants to expand water, sewage and broadband access at "rural industrial parks and ports." The funds will be split between a variety of sites including in Enid, Alva, southside Muskogee, Ada, Duncan and the Muskogee Port.

-- $25 million to help shuttered hospitals reopen.

-- $55.2 million to expand community health and dental treatment to hundreds of thousands underserved Oklahomans through expanded clinic operations and mobile dental units.

-- $10 million to expand telemedicine access in rural Oklahoma.

-- $30.1 million so Boys and Girls Clubs of Oklahoma can increase capacity, make critical repairs to existing sites and add a club-on-the-go program to reach thousands of children who don't have access to physical locations.

-- $25 million to expand a tribal match program for water improvement projects in rural Oklahoma.

-- $25 million so that YMCAs can increase daycare and childcare capacity to provide additional access for families.

-- $20 million to give high school students access to virtual and in-residence training in aerospace and aviation maintenance.

-- $5 million to add broadband workforce training programs at CareerTechs across the state.

-- $6.2 million to offer expanded truck driver training at a handful of CareerTechs centers.

-- $8.1 million to create a manufacturing skills academy in central Oklahoma.

Heading into Tuesday's meeting, lawmakers had allocated about $572 million of the state's total $1.8 billion share of coronavirus funding. Legislators had received $17.8 billion in ARPA project requests.

Lawmakers have made it a priority to allocate the bulk of the funds by the end of the year because of increasing project costs due to inflation, but said the executive branch will be responsible for distributing the project funds once they receive final approval. State agencies will be tasked with ensuring that funding is spent appropriately and follows stringent federal guidelines.

Lawmakers are expected to convene in special session later this month to give final approval to the projects.

They have until 2026 to expend the remainder.

Janelle Stecklein covers the Oklahoma Statehouse for CNHI's newspapers and websites. Reach her at jstecklein@cnhinews.com.

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