Friends,

The 59th Session of the Oklahoma Legislature has come to a close, which means I have completed my first two years in office representing the people of House District 70. It has been an absolute honor to do the work of our District and work with all of my colleagues in the legislature. Working together is how we get things done. If I return in November, I will continue to bring the ideas and solutions from HD70 to the Capitol and work with others to get them done.

End of Session
The Governor finished signing and vetoing bills on Thursday, June 13. He signed all but five bills which were “pocket vetoed” meaning they did not become law. He also “line item vetoed” a budget limits bill that included prohibitions against the State Superintendent’s use of state funds on public relations work that is for self-promotion. Line item veto means the Governor literally strikes through certain language in a bill. In this case, immediately after eliminating the language, the Governor issued his own executive order restricting public relations funding similar to the proposed legislation but more broadly applied. The executive order prohibits state agencies, agency directors or state employees from using “any tax dollars, spent in or outside the state, for the purpose of self-promotion or for the promotion of any matter outside the scope of the state agency.” You can read and learn more about the vetoed bills and the executive order here. Good news is none of our bills were on the veto list. In all we had four bills signed into law this session. Check out this previous Stay In the Loops for a summary of HD70 bills that passed.

For a detailed look at the 2024 legislative session check out the House of Representatives legislative research staff summary here. It is organized by subject matter and gives a broader look at the whole session. New laws in the areas of criminal justice and K-12 education curriculum will likely have long-term impact. For example, in the criminal code there is an omnibus reclassification of crimes that should reduce our longer than average sentence lengths. And in the K-12 graduation requirements there was a change to the number of math credits needed to graduate while also offering local districts the authority to decide on an additional math credit as well as an added financial literacy component that requires among other things an education about credit scores. Finally, you will note that while our district judges received a 7% pay increase, this was less than the 18% recommended to align with the average regional judicial salary. As a fellow public servant, I hope we will continue to evaluate a fair wage for the bench.

Interim Studies
We now enter what legislators call “the interim.” During this time we start the cycle of thinking about policy for the next session and convening interim studies on topics about which we want to learn more while also sharing the information with our legislative colleagues. Interim study ideas are submitted to House leadership. If approved, between July and October the study is prepared, experts and stakeholders are invited to join and a meeting is held on the approved topic. Interim studies are a great way to help move ideas and get input for policy to propose once we reconvene. I invite you to share your ideas for what warrants study. You can reply to this email or send them to me directly at suzanne.schreiber@okhouse.gov by June 28.

Notes to Note
Reminder that this Tuesday is primary election day. House District 70 has an impressive record of having some of the highest voter engagement across the state and I have no doubt we will keep that title – everybody get out and vote!

And Happy Father’s Day however you celebrate. Sending a shout out to my own dad who always says “Go Sis! You can do it. I am so proud of you!” no matter what I am doing and to my husband Tony who does a lot of extra Dad-ing and absolutely makes it possible for me to serve HD70 in the Oklahoma legislature.

Thanks to all who came out to our end of session legislative town hall. I appreciate everyone participating throughout the session in these events – I really enjoy them and I hope you do too. And more importantly, sharing ideas, information and working together is truly what makes our work a success. Please hold July 18 for a Community Coffee at 8:30 a.m. for our next time together. Location TBA – we will update once we have a location secured.

I am remembering the wind storm we had one year ago and House District 70 being largely without power and in damage control/clean up mode so I am not going to complain about the high temps today. There is always something to be grateful for! Everyone take care and hope to see you around the District soon.

Let’s Keep Going,

Suzanne