OKLAHOMA CITY – Four southwest Oklahoma senators filed a total of 135 bills by the Jan. 18 deadline and, of those, the majority have seen recent action during the Second Session of the 59th Legislature.
In total, Oklahoma’s 48 senators filed 841 bills and 13 senate joint resolutions, according to a Senate press release.
State Sens. Chris Kidd (R-Waurika), Dusty Deevers (R-Elgin), Brent Howard (R-Altus) and Jessica Garvin (R-Duncan) addressed numerous issues in their proposals, including Oklahoma’s Industrial Hemp Program, sales tax exemption and rebate, crimes and punishment, divorce, abortion, landlord/tenant issues, water rights, firearms, agriculture, prescription drug pricing, economic development, medical marijuana, domestic abuse, alcoholic beverages, oil and gas, health insurance, driver education and much more.
Sen. Garvin The only bill to fail to date is Sen. Garvin’s SB 1719, which would have allowed child care licensees to appeal a decision by the Department of Human Services to reduce the facility’s rating. The proposal failed on Feb. 15 in the Health and Human Services Committee. The senator, whose district covers the counties of Stephens, McClain, Grady, Garvin and Cleveland has authored or co-sponsored 82 bills this session.
A majority of her bills and several proposals have been forwarded to the appropriate committees. Thirteen bills will have hearings this week, including SB 453 which proposes to increase monthly benefits of volunteer firefighters.
Sen. Kidd Two agriculture bills regarding Oklahoma’s Industrial Hemp Program were authored by Sen. Kidd, whose district covers the counties of Comanche, Cotton, Jefferson, Love and Stephens. He authored or co-sponsored 15 bills this session.
Regarding the hemp program, SB 1934, addresses modifying definitions and modifying the amount of allowable delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration. It would also allow animal consumption of industrial hemp within certain criteria. HB 3011 is co-authored by Rep. David Smith (R-Arpelar) and, among other statutes and suggestions, would provide guidance for noncompliant hemp, modifying requirements for selling industrial hemp grain and other industrial hemp derivatives.
“The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) authorized the production of hemp and removed hemp and hemp seeds from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) schedule of Controlled Substances,” said the usda.gov website. On April 18, 2019, Governor Kevin Stitt signed into law SB 868 which decriminalized hemp on a state level, according to ag.ok.gov.
In addition, one of Sen. Kidd’s measures marked “pass” is a senate concurrent resolution, SCR 16, co-authored by Sen. Tom Woods (R-Westville). The resolution condemns the atrocities of the terrorist organization Hamas and reaffirms Oklahoman and American support for the State of Israel in their fight to eradicate Hamas.
Sen. Howard Of the 29 authored or co-sponsored bills by Sen. Howard, whose district covers the counties of Jackson, Harmon, Kiowa, Tillman, Beckham, Greer and Washita, HB 2109 has garnered the most traction to date. It is carried over from the previous HB 2109 and was sponsored by 12 representatives in 2023, including Rep. Daniel Pae (R-Lawton). Former Sen. John Michael Montgomery’s name was removed from the bill and Sen. Howard’s was added.
The bill is titled: Landlord and tenant; prohibiting retaliation; landlord’s breach of rental agreement and went through several revisions in 2023.
Several of Sen. Howard’s bills are heading toward the appropriate committees for consideration. Included in those is SB 1432, which would update statutory language of the Oklahoma Education Lottery Act. It is headed to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
SB 1628 has been forwarded to the Senate Retirement and Insurance Committee and pertains to prescription drug pricing. It would also prohibit prescription drug manufacturers from taking certain actions against certain entities.
Sen. Deevers All of Sen. Deevers’ nine authored or co-sponsored bills have been referred to the appropriate committees for consideration.
One bill’s content, SB 1958, garnered attention from an Oklahoma City news station due to proposing a modification of the permissible grounds for divorce. It would also require a court to consider the degree of fault when entering certain orders, therefore eliminating an option for a no-fault decree. The measure has been sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Senate committees have until Feb. 29 to report on senate bills they have considered.