One of Stitt’s 14 bills boosts EV charging
Gov. Kevin Stitt signed 14 bills Tuesday, including legislation that could jump-start Oklahoma’s electric vehicle charging network.
The governor has until Saturday to decide whether to sign 49 remaining bills passed during the 2023 regular legislative session. Bills that aren’t signed into law by then will be automatically vetoed.
Lawmakers haven’t adjourned a special session that began last month, however. That means it’s possible they could come back to the Oklahoma state Capitol before June 30 to consider overriding the governor’s veto of tribal compacts and to give final passage to several bills that were left on the table without necessary legislative action when everyone went home May 26. Those measures include funding for community mental health and substance abuse programs and the creation of a fund to help finish construction on the Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture.
What bills were signed by the governor?
Here are the 14 bills the governor signed into law on Tuesday:
Senate Bill 502: Ensures that private businesses, such as gas station owners, can install EV charging stations without having to compete with electric utilities. If a utility wants to set up a charging station, it cannot be subsidized with rates paid by other customers, such as those with residential electric service.
Senate Bill 513: Requires Medicaid and private insurance groups to cover biomarker testing, which is used to precisely identify cancer types by examining the cells’ genetic information.
Senate Bill 212: This bill clarifies that non-citizens cannot own property, even if that ownership is maintained indirectly through a business relationship. Certain arrangements already authorized by current law are exempt, along with businesses that engage in interstate commerce. The major effect of this law would be to strengthen the prohibition on foreign ownership of medical marijuana businesses, which have no standing in interstate commerce.
Senate Bill 100: Every school district will be required to undergo a risk and vulnerability assessment from the Oklahoma School Security Institute, or another qualified risk assessor by July 2026. To receive an Oklahoma School Security Grant, a school district, university or CareerTech must complete a risk assessment.
Senate Bill 674: Creation of the Oklahoma Organized Retail Crime Task Force. The task force will provide information on organized retail crime, and the advantages and drawbacks of instituting various countermeasures to address losses from retail theft in the state.
Senate Bill 849: Authorizes the Oklahoma Broadband Office to hire an attorney and clarifies the procedure for how another state agency, the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, provides support to the broadband office.
Senate Bill 375: This legislation changes the date of primary elections and the deadlines for declarations of candidacy. Primary elections currently are held on the last Tuesday in June of even-numbered years. Now, the elections will be held on the third Tuesday. The change also applies to school board elections. The change was requested by the Oklahoma secretary of state to address a potential timing issue with ballots sent overseas to military voters. Candidates filing also has been moved up one week, meaning that during election years, candidates will begin filing on the first Wednesday of April.
Senate Bill 724: Adds county roads to the types of roads in which obstruction of the right-of-way or street by any gasoline pump, driveway canopy, building, sign, fence, post or any structure on or overhanging is prohibited. Facilities operated by a public utility or companies engaged in oil and gas operations are exempt from this prohibition.
Senate Bill 952: This bill raises the cost threshold for surplus county equipment that must be listed in the Board of County Commissioner meeting minutes from $500 to $1,000.
Senate Bill 97: Clarifies that certain procedures of a dispute mediation can remain confidential, including scheduling, participation, discussion of settlement agreements and the intent of any parties.
Senate Bill 110: CareerTech school districts with more than 225,000 registered voters within their boundaries will now be divided into geographic zones from which board members could be elected. Those districts, however, can still adopt a resolution allowing board members to be elected at large instead of by district.
Senate Bill 225: Creates the School Nurse Pilot Program Revolving Fund to deliver school nurse services in a rural area of the state, although no money was appropriated into the fund this year. The services would be managed by a single nonprofit provider. Another section of the bill allows the state’s diabetes report to be issued every five years instead of once every other year to give more time for developing new policy.
Senate Bill 612: This bill requires background checks to be conducted on every employee of the Oklahoma Lottery Commission.
Senate Bill 704: Modifies the membership of the Oklahoma State University Medical Authority. It adds one member appointed from the Board of Regents for the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges.