OKLAHOMA CITY – It’s that time of year. New legislative terms began last month.
Political caucuses have met and selected leadership for the First Session of the 60th Oklahoma Legislature, which begins on Feb. 3.
Legislators faced their first deadline last Friday to request the drafting of bills and joint resolutions. The bill introduction deadline isn’t until Jan.
16, but preliminary drafts of proposed legislation to hopefully make their way to on the governor’s desk were due on Dec. 6.
Pre-filed bills to date Twenty-one proposals have already been pre-filed, which is a legislative bill submitted for consideration before the official start of a legislative session. Thirteen are from state senators and eight from state House members. To date, no pre-filed bills are from southwest Oklahoma legislators.
The prefiling process allows for publicity and public discussion prior to the start of the session when bills are formally introduced. Topics include prohibiting use of certain substances in food, modifying dates for school district elections, creating an Oklahoma Teacher Recruitment Academy and creating a uniform retirement system for justices and judges.
Legislative statistics show one of the most viewed proposals online is Senate Bill 2, which addresses wind energy facilities and specifically pertains to providing setback requirements for wind towers. The measure aims to set a minimum distance a wind turbine must be placed away from a specific point, such as a public road or property line. A proposal regarding food products, SB 4, is also on the “most viewed” list. According to the draft, 11 food additives or food color additives would be banned(in Oklahoma?).
Those substances include Blue Dye 1 and 2, brominated vegetable oil, Green Dye 3, potassium bromate, propylparaben, Red Dye 3 and 40, titanium dioxide, Yellow Dye 5 and 6.
In the last legislative session, statistics show that 5,433 bills were introduced with 870 proposals completing the process from bill to the governor’s desk for approval.
That is roughly a 16% approval percentage. The highest approval percentage in recent years was 20% in 2022.
How a bill becomes law The detailed process of how a bill moves through the Oklahoma Legislature to potentially become law can be found at info.library.okstate.edu under Oklahoma Government Resources. The road map includes a drafted bill receiving a First Reading and being placed on the Legislative Calendar. All bills for raising revenue must originate in the House of Representatives.
If the bill receives a Second Reading, it then can be assigned to the appropriate committee (or committees) for consideration. The committee considers the bill and then reports it as do pass, do pass as amended, do pass on the committee substitute or do not pass. If labeled do pass, the bill is placed on General Order for consideration by the whole chamber of origin – either the House of Representatives or the Senate. At that point, it is explained, debated, possibly amended, advanced to engrossment or re-referred to a committee. An “engrossed” bill incorporates all changes made and then is available for a Third Reading and final action. Action will be reported as passed, passed as amended or failed. If failed, the bill is known to have died in committee and will not be passed to the other chamber of the Legislature. If passed on, it will go through the same process again. If the proposal is signed by the presiding officer it will return to the chamber in which it originated.
If proposed amendments are rejected, the bill may be referred to a conference committee composed of members from both chambers in an attempt to reconcile the differences. The committee prepares a conference report and each chamber may adopt or reject the report. Further conference may be available if either chamber rejects the report.
Once a bill has passed both chambers in identical form, it is “Enrolled” and given a Fourth Reading in each house. At that point, the presiding officer signs it and the originating chamber sends it to the governor, who will either approve or veto the bill within five days (Sundays excepted) or he may refuse to sign and allow the bill to become law without approval after the five-day period has lapsed.
In addition, a bill may become law, regardless of the governor’s veto, if twothirds majority of each house overrides the action. No bill can become law after final adjournment of the legislative session (sine die) unless approved by the governor within 15 days after adjournment. A bill not signed within 15 days after adjournment becomes known as a “pocket veto.”