Friends,

We are off and running for our second legislative session together. Tomorrow we will hear the State of the State where the Governor will articulate his priorities for the year and a proposed budget. From there we will head right into the work of pushing bills through the legislative process. It’s a new beginning and I head in with a positive, collaborative and pragmatic attitude!

Session Talk

This session will largely be dominated by the tax cut conversation that started last year and over several special sessions. I want to spend a minute and share a few thoughts and questions on the tax cut with you. There are multiple proposals for returning funds to the people of Oklahoma.  Some involve direct investments in people and some involve cash back to taxpayers. It’s a classic conversation when there is surplus in government. From listening and learning about the varied proposals, I think step one is to understand what we have to redistribute without cutting services for Oklahomans. Probably the most honest assessment of that is the state’s own budget stress test that you can find here. While we have good reserves, we would be in a pinch if the economy were to have a mild downturn –  making me think whatever we do in terms of cuts/reinvestments should have a big impact.  

I am watching for opportunities to invest in people that lower their costs in things such as childcare, elder care, and groceries and improve their lives through things like quality education and workforce development. And if we can make some of those investments without cutting taxes and still have some funds left over – let’s get rid of our many tax brackets and raise the standard deduction so our tax structure is fair. We are a fairly low tax state overall but lower income earners carry the heaviest burden.  

Bills for for the 2024 Session 

In January, I filed 8 bills and have 3 carried over from last year. The bills are constituent requests and range from protecting retirement income to eliminating junk fees to addressing penalties for driving under the influence to…of course, accessible and affordable childcare. I will be working to get as many of these through the committee process before February 26. Usually a few don’t make it and that’s okay – with 101 people filing legislation – some bills just have to be weeded out or wait another year. And some turn out to be not as great an idea as you thought! If you want to track or follow my bills are any others, click here and select my name.

Constituent Conversations

We had a great constituent conversation on January 30 with Commissioner Leslie Osborn. She provided valuable insight as the former Appropriations Chair of the House of Representatives as well as updates on the important work she does as Labor Commissioner. A job is definitely what you make it and Commissioner Osborn is a leader that leans into using her role to solve problems that she sees arising in her day to day work. While the Labor Commission role has responsibility for taking care of workers and their wages, keeping people safe in the workplace and licensing, Commissioner Osborn uses her role to lead and connect well beyond these duties.

Crazy as I am, I am excited to be back at the Capitol over the next 4 months working on House District 70 priorities, working with my colleagues, and serving you and the State. I anticipate our next Constituent Conversation to be some time at the end of February or the first week in March –  watch your inboxes for an invite. In the meantime, please reach out if I can be of assistance and as always, please share your concerns, feedback and ideas with me. We are in this together!  

Let’s keep going – 

Suzanne