Organizational Day for 59th Legislature took place Tuesday

The 59th Legislature convened Tuesday for Organizational Day.

The Oklahoma Constitution requires each two-year Legislature to convene at noon on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January of each odd-numbered year to formally organize each chamber by electing officers and approving rules. The Constitution also requires the House of Representatives and Senate to jointly meet in the House Chamber to officially approve the prior year’s election returns.

As this is the first time for the newly-elected members to convene, it’s kind of a big deal. We formally elected the speaker of the House and the speaker pro tempore to serve for the next two years. The speaker now gets to select his majority floor leader and other leadership positions as well as set committee assignments. We also adopted rules by which we will be governed while we are in legislative session. Session won’t officially start until Feb. 6 when we’ll hear Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt’s State of the State Address.

Between now and then, we’ll hold budget reviews with the six state agencies that receive the largest amount of taxpayer dollars. These meetings are open to the public. The schedule should be released in the next few weeks. House Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee chairs, meanwhile, are reviewing agency budget requests for the next fiscal year.

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At home this past week, Latimer County lost one of our finest with the passing of John Cook. John was truly a lifelong friend of mine as we traveled through school together.

John was everywhere volunteering for any and everything he was asked. John really loved Wilburton and our community, and it showed in everything he did. Please pray for his family in this difficult time.

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As always, thanks for allowing me to serve. Never hesitate to contact my office if we can be of assistance. I can be reached by e-mail at Jim.Grego@okhouse.gov or by telephone at (405) 557-7381.

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Grego serves District 17 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. His district includes Latimer County and parts of LeFlore and Pittsburg counties.