OKLAHOMA CITY – Eight members of the state House of Representatives, who represent southwestern Oklahoma, authored or co-sponsored 220 bills. The majority of those measures are still being considered in the appropriate committees.
The members, Reps. Brad Boles (R-Marlow), Trey Caldwell (R-Lawton), Toni Hasenbeck (R-Elgin), Gerrid Kendrix (R-Altus), Dick Lowe (R-Amber), Marcus McEntire (R-Duncan), Daniel Pae (Lawton) and Rande Worthen (R-Lawton), were all part of House Resolution 1027, a proposal to raise breast cancer awareness and designate March 5, 2024, as Susan G. Komen Advocacy Day.
HR 1027 passed both the House and Senate and the enrolled, or final bill, is filed with the Secretary of State. The Susan G. Komen Foundation is a leading organization in the fight against breast cancer.
Two members, Reps. Lowe and Pae, were co-sponsors of House Bill 1955, which removed the state’s portion of sales tax on certain food items. The bill completed legislative action and was approved by Governor Kevin Stitt at the end of February.
Also completing legislative action: Senate Bill 1215, co-sponsored by Rep. Boles and 14 other legislators, is an act related to the veterans tax exemption registry and was approved by Gov. Stitt on March 5. Authored by Senator Brenda Stanley (R-Midwest City), the bill addresses sales tax, amending statutes that relate to exemptions; eliminating the deadline for certain registration for certain disabled veterans and updating statutory language.
SB 60, a carryover bill from 2023 authored by Sen. Julie Daniels (R-Bartlesville) and co-sponsored by Rep. Kendrix has completed legislative action and is filed with the Secretary of State as well. The bill creates an act to recreate a Board of Chiropractic Examiners and will continue until July 1, 2026, in accordance with the Oklahoma Sunset Law. The Governor will appoint members to the board.
HR 1022, co-sponsored by Rep. McEntire, is a resolution that created Rose Day at the State Capitol on Feb. 7, 2024. It states, in part, that “on Rose Day 2024, hundreds of our fellow Oklahomans will take time out of their busy lives to come to their State Capitol to make a public statement respecting the sanctity of human life and the worth of every unborn individual and to speak with their elected officials.” It, too, was signed and filed with the Secretary of State.
In the Senate, of the 183 bills authored or co-sponsored by five southwest Oklahoma senators, the majority of proposals are still being considered in the appropriate committees.
Representing southwestern Oklahoma are Sens. Dusty Deevers (R-Elgin), Jessica Garvin (R-Duncan), Brent Howard (R-Altus), Chris Kidd (R-Waurika) and Lonnie Paxton (R-Tuttle). Two bills of the 82 a uthored or co-sponsored by Sen. Garvin have now failed. They are: SB 1700 which related to voter registration. It would have established an Address Confidentiality Program that would have authorized the Secretary of the State Election Board to keep confidential the residence and mailing address, upon application, of registered voters who are members of certain classes such as judiciary members, district attorneys, assistant district attorneys, uniformed services members, law enforcement personnel and immediate family members, journalists and their immediate family and persons who are protected by victim’s protection orders. The proposal failed in the General Government Committee on Feb. 29.
SB 1719, also authored by Garvin, 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.
SB 2028, authored by Kidd, failed in the Finance Committee on Feb. 26. The proposal related to agricultural sales tax exemptions. The extensive list included sales of agricultural products produced in Oklahoma to the consumer when articles are sold at or from a farm and not from some other place of business.
March 14 is the de adline in both the House and Senate for the Third Reading of Bills in their chamber of origin.