Bartlesville Radio: The area’s best source for news, weather and sports!

Turns out even government hotlines need a bailout eventually. Governor Kevin Stitt has signed Senate Bill 1290 into law, creating the 2-1-1 Hotline Revolving Fund to help maintain Oklahoma’s statewide assistance system for residents needing help with rent, utility bills, food, transportation, healthcare, and other essentials. The hotline has been surviving the last decade the same way most Oklahomans survive inflation, by scraping together whatever support it could find. According to Sen. Jo Anna Dossett, the state cut all funding for 2-1-1 during a rough budget year nearly ten years ago, leaving nonprofits and philanthropic groups in Tulsa and Oklahoma City to keep the operation alive across all 77 counties. Now, thanks to SB 1290, the fund is expected to receive $3 million as part of this year’s state budget agreement. Looks like lawmakers have discovered that answering the phone when people are desperate might be useful government spending.

Rep. Kevin Norwood said the law ensures Oklahomans facing hardship will continue to have a reliable place to turn when they need help with basic necessities. In other words, the state is investing in an actual human response system instead of just another website telling people to “check back later.” Norwood called the hotline a critical lifeline that connects people with real-time assistance, while Dossett thanked lawmakers, appropriations committees, and the governor for backing the effort. Democrats and Republicans agreed on something besides naming highways and taking ceremonial photos with oversized checks and honestly, that alone may qualify as the real headline.