You can make your voice heard in the new legislative session
The first session of the 59th Oklahoma Legislature begins Monday, and state House and Senate members will spend the next four months debating bills, passing new laws, and crafting the next state budget.
The legislative session also gives Oklahomans a chance to be heard. Some will protest in the Capitol rotunda while others will visit lawmaker offices to discuss the challenges they face in their home districts. There are also chances to watch committee hearings and floor sessions.
Want to make your voice heard at the Capitol this year? Here’s a short guide:
Contact your representative and senator
Each Oklahoman has a representative in the House and Senate.
You can use your address to find your House district at https://okhouse.maps.arcgis.com/home/index.html. Senate districts can be found at https://oksenate.gov/senators.
House (https://www.okhouse.gov/ representatives) and Senate (https:// oksenate.gov/senators) directories can be used to get email addresses, phone numbers and office numbers.
If you visit the Capitol, touchscreens on most floors can help you find a specific lawmaker or committee room.
Attend a committee hearing
Before a bill can receive a vote from the full House and Senate, it first needs a committee hearing. There are different committees for different subjects (education, agriculture, business, etc.). The committee meetings are open to the public, although members of the public are not allowed to address the committee in the same way they might at a city council or school board meeting.
You can also watch meetings live or recorded online.
The public is also allowed to watch House and Senate floor proceedings. The viewing gallery can be accessed on the fifth floor.
Tracks bills
You can go to http://www.oklegislature.gov/AdvancedSearchForm.aspx to look up bills, read the language and track their status. You can search bills by author, bill number or subject. Once you are on the bill’s page, you can see how lawmakers voted.
However, many bills you might look up have nothing inside them. Called “shell bills,” these placeholders for future legislation are a common tool for lawmakers that The Oklahoman’s Dale Denwalt recently wrote about in detail.