June 2, 2025

Friends,

As I sat down to write this end of the session Stay in the Loop, I was interrupted by a scary and dangerous set of events in my immediate neighborhood – no doubt many of you have already seen this news and maybe even saw or heard some of the events yourself.  I won’t go into all of the details here but for me, it was a good reminder of how much we rely on and need our first responders and police to keep us safe.  Without the quick action and pursuit by them, this situation which began at a popular neighborhood park could have been so much worse.  I’m grateful for their excellent training to handle any number of unexpected and life-threatening situations every day.  I’m also reminded of the lack of gun safety policy in Oklahoma and the devastation guns can bring especially when in the wrong hands.  Sunday’s incident occurred on the same day as the St. Francis shooting in 2022 where four people were killed.  Our community’s safety is driven by so many factors.  I’m committed to continued support for law enforcement, first responders, mental health resources and access, and gun safety policy.

A Wild End to Session

Oklahoma’s 2025 legislative session came to an end Friday in what was certainly the wildest 24 hours I have seen in my three years of serving.  Before I give some of the highlights, I want to thank you for your grace when I had to cancel our townhall Thursday.  What was going to be a simple last day in the legislature turned into an all-nighter.  We didn’t end up finishing until after midnight and went back to close out Friday morning.  l will try to recount some of the adventures but to sum it up – at one point late Thursday night – I got my picture taken with a dog and a cat, inside the Capitol!

 

Vetoes, Vetoes, and More Vetoes

The last two weeks of session were spent anxiously (some might even say full paranoia had set in) awaiting which bills the Governor would veto.  There wasn’t much rhyme or reason to the pattern of which bills got the executive axe but it was happening at a fast clip.  I had two bills I was watching closely to see if they would make it out alive. In the final hours Wednesday night, I saw one of our bills end up on the veto list.  HB 2778 (probably more familiar to you as HB 1849), a workforce recruitment and retention bill which I have been working on for two years that provides no cost childcare for employees of licensed childcares got the red pen. The Governor’s veto message worried over its cost and sustainability.  My argument was the massive return on investment for this effort was worth the projected annual $10 million dollar cost.  For every dollar spent on early childhood education, anywhere between $4 and $16 is returned to the economy.

 

 

Fortunately, the legislature is able to override vetoes if you can get House and Senate Leadership to put your bill on the override list and guarantee two-thirds yes votes in both chambers.  This was an unusual year for vetoes.  You can check out this informative chart and find more history of vetoes here.

 

 

Early in the day Thursday, the House overrode the veto and sent HB 2778 over to the Senate.  Finally at 11:30 PM Thursday night, our bill hit the final step on the Senate Floor and received enough yes votes to override the veto and deliver a huge relief to our childcare industry.  The response from providers and employers across the state just since Friday has been overwhelming.  A very important note about this bill, it’s true I worked this bill like a dog on a bone but I had a lot of colleagues that stood with me to the very end and it would not have happened without their support.

 

Specifically, I want HD70 to know how grateful I am to Rep. Mark Lawson (R-Sapulpa), Rep. Trey Caldwell (R-Lawton), Speaker Kyle Hilbert and his staff and Sen. Todd Gollihare (R-Sapulpa) and Sen. Chuck Hall (R-Perry).  Without their support and commitment to this policy, it never would have happened and I am deeply grateful they trusted me and fought with me all the way through the wild kingdom to victory.

 

And if all that wasn’t nerve-wracking enough, right after we finished veto overrides we took up an unusual measure to terminate the Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse.  Much of our legislative session was dominated by the debacle at ODMHSA which resulted in disruption and fear in the mental health provider community and for those receiving services.  Though much effort was made to support the Commissioner and find a way through the difficulties, the dishonesty and incompetency could not be overcome.  The Senate voted 43-1 to terminate and the House 81-5.  I supported the motion knowing the challenge now will be to find a leader who understands the gravity of their role and how much Oklahoma relies on these services for healthy communities.

 

Five Bills Become Law

Once again, HD70 brought great ideas and provided amazing support to back them up.  Below are the five bills either signed by the Governor (2), became law without signature (2), or were vetoed and overridden (1).  I am not going to detail all of them specifically but if you have questions about any of them, reach out as I LOVE talking about our bills.  I am super proud of each and every one of them.

 

With or without the Governor’s signature, the following will now become law:

• Sales Tax Relief for Non-Profits that Provide School Supplies to Public Schools
• Family Home Childcares Now Governed by State Building Code
• Oklahoma Uniform Trust Code
• Cash Payments for Medical Expenses Toward Deductible
• Early Childhood Teacher Recruitment and Retention

Two bills that we filed were slowed in the process and are to be brought back next year.  One is another sales tax relief credit, this one for public safety foundations.  Currently there are 89 pages of individual sales tax relief credits for a variety of non-profit organizations.  This interim, along with another legislator, I am going to explore an idea for omnibus reform in this area.  Instead of adding organization after organization, the idea is rather to have sales tax relief for smaller non-profits with less than $3 million in assets.

 

The other bill that will continue next year is a consumer protection bill that addresses online subscriptions and provides consumers’ rights by clarifying what information is to be provided when offering subscriptions online and what rights a consumer has once subscribed.  The bill provides recourse through the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Unit.  At the time I had to make the decision whether to take the final step to send the bill to the Governor’s desk, I was watching the Governor veto every bill that related in any way to the Attorney General’s office and was concerned it would get vetoed.  Had I known about the forthcoming veto override massacre, I would have forged ahead.  Good news is the bill remains alive and will be at the same place in the process next year.

 

We are working to get a rescheduled townhall date and will update you as soon as we get a time and location.  We can discuss other results of the session and start looking ahead to 2026, I’ll definitely be looking for interim study and bill ideas!

 

Yesterday’s neighborhood events remind me of the fragility of life and make me extra glad to be finished with the legislative session and home with my family and friends here in HD70.  I have lots of tours and speaking engagements during June so I hope to see some of you around.  Always feel free to reach out with problems to solve, ideas, observations, questions – anything!  Everyone take care and be safe.

 

Let’s Keep Going –

 

Suzanne