Legislative Update

New law counters threat of green movement restrictions

September 10, 2020

House Bill 3619 by State Rep. Terry O’Donnell, which was signed into law in May, ensures local property and business owners beginning Nov. 1 will have the right to connect to any utility legally operating in their area. This protects private property rights and consumer choice and promotes free enterprise, said O’Donnell, R-Catoosa. “This law…

All are on redistricting committees

September 10, 2020

House Speaker Charles McCall has appointed all House members to redistricting committees. Every ten years, the Oklahoma Constitution requires each legislative chamber to redraw its own districts and congressional districts following the release of decennial U.S. Census data. Eight regional redistricting subcommittees will go directly to the public to ask citizens how House districts should…

Funding for state transit providers

September 10, 2020

Help is on the way for Oklahoma’s public transit providers that have been impacted by decreased ridership and higher operational costs due to COVID-19. Governor Kevin Stitt along with Secretary of Transportation and Oklahoma Department of Transportation Executive Director Tim Gatz announced that $6 million in federal CARES Act funding will be directed to ODOT…

State parking fee hikes are studied

September 10, 2020

State Rep. Lundy Kiger, R-Poteau, hosted an interim study on state park parking fees before the House Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee on Natural Resources and Regulatory Services Kiger said he requested the study after the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department’s started charging parking fees of between $8 to $10 at about half of Oklahoma’s state…

Long-term care and coronavirus

September 10, 2020

State Rep. Tammy West, R-Oklahoma City, the chair of the Majority Caucus in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, held an interim study examining current and future needs of people in long-term care facilities related to COVID-19. The study was held before the House Health Services and Long-Term Care Committee. “A number of Oklahomans who are…

Stitt trying to sort out SCOTUS ruling

July 30, 2020

Governor Kevin Stitt issued Executive Order 2020-24, announcing the formation of The Oklahoma Commission on Cooperative Sovereignty to address concerns and make recommendations to the State and the U.S. Congress in light of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions in McGirt v. Oklahoma and Sharp v. Murphy. “We know that there is a lot of…

Gambling deals are overturned

July 30, 2020

Republican leaders in the Legislature praised the decision by the Oklahoma Supreme Court declaring recent gambling agreements negotiated by Gov. Kevin Stitt as void under Oklahoma law. “This ruling confirms what we have maintained all along: There are parameters defined by statute that must be followed in the negotiation of and entering into tribal gaming…

Almost 33k cases in Oklahoma

July 30, 2020

As of July 27, Oklahoma has had 32,686 positive cases of the coronarvirus. Health officials say 573,185 people have been tested with 535,582 tests coming back negative. There were 625 people in hospital with the virus as of Monday and 496 people have died statewide. They report that 24,698 people have recovered from having the…

Road funding

June 18, 2020

Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) will proceed with plans to repair or replace structurally deficient roads and bridges throughout the state. Rep. Todd Russ, R-Cordell, chair of the House Appropriations & Budget Committee for Transportation, said transportation is receiving about $4 million additional for Fiscal Year 2021 than for FY20, once all bonding and debt…

GOP leaders try to stop gambling agreements

June 11, 2020

Republican Legislative leaders filed an action with the Oklahoma Supreme Court in response to a recent federal court motion by Gov. Kevin Stitt concerning his renegotiation of tribal gambling compacts. In a May 28 filing in a federal court case concerning tribal gaming compacts, Stitt asked a federal judge to rule on the Oklahoma attorney…