Friends,

Stay in the Loop returns for 2025 and the Sixtieth Legislature of the State of Oklahoma!  I am so honored to be returning to the legislature to serve you.  I hope everyone had some time to celebrate the season and is ready for the New Year.  Time most definitely marches on!

Back to the Capitol 

On Tuesday, we will head back to the House of Representatives Chamber to formally elect leadership and adopt the rules by which the House is governed.  An observation from Will Rogers in 1926,  “Congress meets tomorrow morning.  Let us all pray. Oh Lord, give us strength to bear that which is about to be inflicted up on us.  Be merciful with them, Oh Lord, for they know not what they are doing.”  I have to say, it’s still a very appropriate prayer!

Between Organizational Day on January 7 and the formal start of the legislative session on February 3,  we will be reviewing agency budget requests and putting final touches on bills.  This link takes you to the State Budget portal, it is truly an amazing tool that has only continued to improve since its roll out.  I will try to attend most budget hearings but per my committee assignments my specific budgetary duties are on Finance and Public Safety.

Speaking of which, not only do I have a new set of committee assignments, the entire House will be navigating a new committee system.  Incoming House Speaker Kyle Hilbert (R-Bristow) created a new committee structure in an effort to allow for more time and deliberation of bills at their initial consideration.  I believe the end goal is to have more committee discussion and refinement of bills, aiming to only put bills on the floor that are ready for debate and votes.  I think it’s a good idea and I hope we as public servants can find a way to make it work.  Understanding that it will probably be pretty bumpy at first, I will be working hard to do my part as a committee member and bill author to make the system work for HD70.  You can read more about the ins and outs of this new process here.

Proposed Bills

I have a variety of bills that represent the care and concerns of Tulsans and probably many Oklahomans.  I am looking forward to ushering them through the two-year legislative process.  Bills include:

• Sales Tax Relief for Non-Profits
• Online Subscription Fee Renewal Protections
• Family Home Childcare Center Building Codes
• Uniform Will and Trust Codes
• Cash Payments for Medical Expenses
• International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Anti-Semitism definition
• Stormwater Management
• Employer Tax Credit for Childcare Costs
• Early Childhood Teacher Recruitment and Retention
• Simplification of Divorce Filings

It’s a long list but all are policies that impact Oklahomans and are constituent requests and concerns.  These bills will all carry through the two year session provided they advance in the process.

Southwest Delegation to Israel with Israeli Consulate

I have had the hardest time putting into words my thoughts and feelings from the trip.  Please forgive the longer newsletter as I try to share just a bit of the experience.  As promised by others who have traveled there, it was a life-changing experience.  The group visited Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Nazareth, Sderot, and Usfiya meeting with government and foreign affairs officials, business and technology leaders as well as Israeli citizens.  From meeting with the Speaker of Knesset Amir Ohana to visiting sites of the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack to learning about how Israel became the number one country for startups with the fourth most publicly traded companies in the world, the trip was eye-opening, thought-provoking, inspiring and a reminder of the necessity of our strong bi-lateral relations.

While we saw so many wonderful things there, the realities of the Hamas terrorist attacks, ongoing war, and the remaining 100 hostages dominate the daily lives of the Israelis.  I heard over and over again, “it is if we are reliving October 7, 2023 every day.”  The country is traumatized and when you are there, you understand why.  Of course, the geography puts things in perspective but you cannot imagine the things that were done in the name of an extremist regime that seeks to dismantle the only democracy in the Middle East. Terrorists came into homes, communities and events and brutally, raped, murdered and burned alive 1400 civilians.  One hundred hostages remain in captivity – three of whom are Americans.  The attack on Israel has had extreme consequences for so many.  Per President Eisenhower in 1945, “War is a grim, cruel business, a business justified only as a means of sustaining the forces of good against those of evil.”

When you are in the extremely diverse country, you understand Israel’s great responsibility and willingness to keep safe democracy for its people and for the world.  If Israel’s democracy falls to terror regimes, it is very realistic to ask, is ours next? I thought about this constantly while there and understood so much more deeply America’s longtime friendship and alliance with this extremely unique and special country.

The photos above from left to right.   Top Row:  first three photos represent just one community where men, women and children were killed and kidnapped, the mailboxes pictured served that one community – the stickers represent those in each home that were killed, taken hostage and those that were released; the fourth picture is our delegation with two Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers.  Bottom Row:  a sign entering the Nova site which remains dangerous and where nearly four hundred individuals were killed and many more injured: the second picture shows hundreds of burned cars of those trying to escape the terrorist attacks, the delegation meeting with leaders in the Israeli Knesset representing opposite parties, and last, a first of its kind desalination plant which is now being replicated in California.  

Save the Date

I hope you can join us for our next townhall on January 30th from 6:00-7:00 PM.  We will be back at Schusterman-Benson Library.  I am eager to see you all again and visit about the upcoming session.  If you plan on joining us, register here.

In the meantime, reach out and let me know your thoughts.  I enjoy your feedback, curiosity, concerns and even your criticism.  Please don’t ever hesitate to share.  I am at your service and you can email me or call my office if you even have the thought,  “maybe Rep. Schreiber could help…”  If I can’t, maybe I can find someone who can!  Stay warm everybody.

Let’s Keep Going –

Suzanne