OKLAHOMA CITY – State Labor Commissioner Leslie Osborn, who is seeking reelection to a second four-year term, defeated legislator Sean Roberts in the statewide runoff primary Aug. 23.
Of the 271,522 ballots counted in that race, Osborn received 53% of them and Roberts got 47%.
Osborn, 58, of Mustang, served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives for 10 years before she was elected Labor Commissioner in November 2018.
Roberts, 48, of Hominy, has been a state Representative for 12 years and terms out of the Legislature this year. He identified himself as Sean “The Patriot” Roberts when he filed for labor commissioner earlier this year, but the State Election Board nixed the moniker.
Osborn advances to the Nov. 8 general election, when she will face Democrat Jack Henderson, 71, of Tulsa, and Libertarian Will Daugherty, 28, of Yukon.
The runoff election “ended up being very close,” Osborn said. “We’re appreciative of the chance to have four more years to finish some of the initiatives we started.”
One of those initiatives is occupational license reform. The Oklahoma Department of Labor “oversees the licensure, registration, and regulation of 51 distinct occupational licenses throughout the state,” the agency reports on its website.
The ODOL licenses approximately 10,000 individuals and businesses “while simultaneously protecting the health, safety, and welfare of all Oklahomans by ensuring that licensees have met a standard of expertise.”
Occupational areas licensed by the state Labor Department include alarms, locksmiths and fire sprinklers, boiler/pressure vessels, alternative fuels, asbestos abatement, welders, elevators and amusement park rides.
Another of Osborn’s initiatives is critical job shortages. “We are working with Oklahoma City schools on a pilot program to fit kids into trades, by reintroducing shop class in schools and creating apprenticeships,” she said. “Jobs are out there, waiting to be filled, and we want to help students graduate with a skill and no student debt.”
In addition, during her tenure as Labor Commissioner, Osborn has traveled across the state to present safety seminars to numerous companies.
Gov. Kevin Stitt endorsed Roberts in the election, and a political action committee with ties to the governor donated $6,500 to Roberts’ campaign.
Roberts accused Osborn of not being a true conservative, and built his candidacy around social issues such as gun ownership and opposition to abortion – issues that have no relationship to the labor commissioner’s duties.
In early 2021 Osborn told members of the House and Senate appropriations committees that her agency:
• Coordinates boiler/pressure vessel inspections and licensing.
There are 69,500 registered pressure vessels across the state, she said. This area was placed under state regulation after the Star-Spencer Elementary School disaster in January 1982, when an 80-gallon water heater exploded, killing six children and one teacher and injuring 35 other people.
• Licenses alarm, locksmith and fire sprinkler companies and employees, including managers, sales personnel, technicians, inspectors and trainees.
• Licenses alternative fuels companies and alternative fuels equipment technicians, compression technicians and electric vehicle technicians.
• Monitors amusement park rides.
The Labor Department inspects all amusement rides at permanent amusement parks annually, and all mobile amusement rides are inspected every time they are moved. Labor Department personnel inspected 1,884 amusement rides at local and state events in 2020, Osborn said.
• Enforces asbestos abatement regulations and licenses employees, including supervisors, contractors, inspectors, planners, project designers, and workers.
• Licenses welders.
A welder is required to renew the state license each year.
One legislator complained that Latimer County had no plumbers. “We don’t license plumbers,” Osborn replied. Plumbers are certified by the Oklahoma Construction Industries Board.
• The state Labor Department inspects elevators and escalators, and licenses elevator inspectors, contractors, mechanics and apprentices.
There are 6,665 public-access elevators throughout the state except for those in Oklahoma City, an agency spokesperson said. The Labor Department is responsible for inspecting all elevators and escalators in the state except for those in Oklahoma City, which is the responsibility of City Hall, Osborn said.
The Labor Department’s elevator master list includes residential stairway chair lifts, airport moving sidewalks, platform lifts at wholesale and retail businesses, escalators and freight/passenger elevators at city halls and county courthouses, state office buildings, public libraries, hospitals and medical office buildings, churches, hotels/motels, banks, schools, parking garages, private businesses, casinos, shopping malls, museums, etc.