March 2, 2025

Friends,

I hope you all fared well through the brutal cold and the following absolutely beautiful end of February.  Things are pretty similar at the Capitol, some really bleak, dark days and some wonderful where you can see the light!  And like the weather, it’s very unpredictable!

Sunny Days

I always love to see Tulsans at the Capitol.  Last week, Tulsa Area United Way friends were in town reminding legislators that Tulsa is very generous but no amount of charitable dollars can do the job of good policy and state investments.  This week, the Tulsa Chamber will be in town with a similar message but from the business perspective.  You can see the Tulsa One Voice agenda here.

I am proud to say that the Chamber will be advocating for House District 70’s childcare bills.  This suite of bills looks at different opportunities to support families needing childcare with an employer tax credit, an early childhood teacher recruitment and retention incentive, and cutting red tape – all of these bills (HB 1847, HB 1848 and HB 1849) are all still alive and moving through the bill process.  In case you missed it, here is my editorial from the Tulsa World covering childcare and a few details of these bills.

I have three other bills still moving.  House Bill 1850 will be heard on Monday on the House Floor, which means it’s the furthest along and should it pass, will be on its way to the Senate!  The bill is a major update to trust law in Oklahoma and is the product of several attorneys really bearing down on how to incorporate Oklahoma’s law with the Uniform Trust law so that there is predictability and portability in the law.  It’s not that exciting on its face but it will be a big help to the practice of trust law and ultimately trustees and beneficiaries.

House Bill 1851 is the Fair Auto Renewal Act providing consumer protection for those with subscription services, as well as simple reminders prior to a renewal of those subscriptions.  This bill has been a real learning experience in that I don’t think we realize how many subscription services we have – everything from grocery delivery to streaming services to fitness applications to news subscriptions.  Over 30 states have such consumer protection laws which is both good and bad.  It’s bad in that Oklahomans have not previously had the consumer protections included in the bill,  and good in that many businesses are accustomed to these kinds of laws and have already set their practices to comply.  Currently the bill carries a fiscal meaning there is a dollar amount tied to the bill.  This always makes things a bit more difficult but I am in conversations with the Attorney General’s office about whether there are new costs to enforce, as they already maintain a full consumer protection unit.

Finally, House Bill 1853 is the cash payments toward deductibles bill.  Similar to the Fair Auto Renewals bill, this idea was brought to me by an HD 70 constituent as a continuation of our work on medical price transparency and medical debt.  Little did I know when I filed this bill in December, I would have my own experience with exactly what the bill works to address.  Last week, I went for a CT angiogram ordered by my doctor.  I am insured and have a $1500 deductible which has not yet been met. Thus, the cost to me for the procedure was a little over $1300.  When I arrived for the scan I learned that the cash price for the exact same procedure was $499.  Under the current law, I was not permitted to simply pay the $499 and have that go toward my deductible.  Case in point that what we are trying to correct is happening in practice!  If HB 1853 becomes law, insured patients can access these cost savings when a medical service is less than the contracted insurance price and have that cost count toward their deductible.

Finally, I also have Senate Bill 59 with Senator Dave Rader for which I am the House author.  The bill provides sales tax relief for non-profits benefitting public schools.  Tulsa’s own Pencil Box has long advocated for this bill and I look forward to finally getting this through the House and to the Governor.

By the end of this week all House bills must have passed through several committees to be considered eligible to become law in this session.  So come Friday, our 6 House bills will be a little further down the line or on hold until next year.  I am optimistic, but I will keep you updated.  Below is a picture of me in the never-ending committee process used to filter and improve the bills that end up being heard on the floor.  It’s a tedious process and lots of work but can (doesn’t always) produce better policy for the full legislature’s consideration.

Not so Bright

We are still seeing harsh immigration bills – including House Bill 1362 which modifies the statute passed last year for “unauthorized presence” from a misdemeanor to a felony.  If an individual were to be detained for any reason (e.g. stopped for an expired tag) and did not have documentation permitting them to be in the United States, they will be charged with a felony and deported within 7 days.  This bill is not for those who have already been convicted of a felony and are undocumented – there is a different path to address their deportation.  This legislation will ensnare everyday people most of whom pay taxes, are employed and have families.  To me, the negative consequences to our community of pushing out neighbors, employees and separating parents and children will be devastating.

While this plays out, the State Board of Education has new members questioning the State Superintendent on his directive to require schools to ask students about their parents’ immigration status.  The Governor has stood against this and members of the state board are now pushing back as well.  I appreciate them raising their voices.

As we wrangle with the state budget and whether to cut income tax and what deserves investment, I found this report from the Oklahoma Tax Commission interesting about how we are spending some of our taxpayer dollars.  You will see from the chart below that while the parental choice tax credit was discussed as something to help low income families, over 70% of the credits go to families making more than $75,000 per year.  You all may have also followed some of this in the Tulsa World.  I am very interested in your input on the tax credit now that it is fully in use and we have some data about who is accessing it.

At the end of the month, Speaker of the House Kyle Hilbert (R-Bristow) and I are doing an event with the Tulsa Press Club.  The Oklahoma City area has several news shows both radio and television, covering the Capitol yet Tulsa has none.  At the Press Club event, we hope to gain interest for an actual show that would bring news of the Capitol here to Tulsa, with an eye on – what’s in it for Tulsa?!   Hopefully we can make it interesting enough to get something going.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Townhall this Wednesday evening at Schusterman-Benson at 6:00 PM.  Whether I see you at the townhall, the Capitol, the grocery store or “in my email” – I look forward to it.  Please take care and truly, stay in touch and I will do my best to do that too!

Let’s Keep Going –

Suzanne