Legislative deadline for filing bills is Thursday

The first Session of the 59th Oklahoma Legislature will convene February 6.

On that day, lawmakers will hear from Gov. Kevin Stitt in his fifth “State of the State” address, which will outline his goals and policies he believes necessary to achieve those goals. Many of those suggestions will come from bills filed by state senators and representatives to be considered over the four months the Legislature is in session.

On Thursday, Oklahomans will learn what ideas our 149 legislators have in store for consideration. That deadline is the final one in the months-long process of requesting and drafting bills for the upcoming legislature. In recent years, more than 2,000 ideas have been submitted for consideration.

If you would like to review these ideas which have been submitted, you can go to okhouse.gov or oksenate.gov and click on the drop-down link for legislation to review what will be up for consideration in 2023.

We have heard many ideas through news outlets so far for bills which were filed before this deadline. I want to remind those who are reading this column that usually only about 10 percent of the bills starting off in session are actually sent to the desk of the governor. Many that are similar are combined into one bill, while others are not even heard to begin within the committee process. In fact, in most year, less than half of the bills even make it past the first deadline of a required hearing by a legislative committee.

The bills which are considered are reviewed thoroughly by the lawmaker and the legislative staff working to draft the idea so it will conform to Oklahoma statute, or the division of the laws which we must follow as citizens.

I want to thank those legislative staff members who worked over the holiday on Monday, giving up time with their families and friends, to make certain this deadline is met. There are many men and women behind the scenes that are dedicated to their jobs and the professionalism to ensure that every bill submitted is what the lawmaker has requested.