Nearly 280 bills passed through House and Senate committees this week as lawmakers work toward the March 2 deadline when measures must be reported from committees of their house of origin or be considered dead for this session. |
|
House GOP education plan clears first hurdle |
|
Two portions of the House Republican Caucus’ education plan received do pass recommendations Thursday afternoon from the House Appropriations and Budget Committee, after nearly two hours of questions and debate.
Rep. Rhonda Baker, chair of the House Public Education Committee, presented committee substitutes to HB1935 and HB2775 on behalf of House Speaker Charles McCall. The pair of bills provide a tax credit to the families of students not enrolled in public education and appropriates a total of $500 million to common education.
The committee substitute (CS) for HB1935, by Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, and Rep. Mark McBride, R-Moore, creates the Oklahoma Parental Choice Tax Credit Act. It provides refundable tax credits to students not participating in public education, in amounts of $5,000 per child for private school attendance and $2,500 for homeschool attendance.
The CS for HB2775, by McCall and McBride, appropriates a total of $500 million to the State Department of Education (SDE) for purposes of distribution to the various public school districts of the state for common education and the funding of a $2,500 active classroom teacher raise.
Baker, R-Yukon, received numerous questions from committee members about the legislation.
Rep. Melissa Provenzano, who would go on to debate against both bills, noted and thanked Baker for excluding merit-based pay from HB2775, a plan championed in recent weeks by Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters. She then expressed concerns about the cap included in the bill and its potential impact on 6-A schools.
“Is it constitutional to treat them differently,” Provenzano, D-Tulsa, asked.
Baker said it was her understanding the issue had been “looked at” and had been declared “fair and constitutional.” McCall, making a rare committee appearance, added, “There will people who reach a cap in all parts of the state, even schools that are off the formula.”
“All schools will receive money out of that bucket of money,” he summarized.
In her debate against HB2775, Provenzano conceded it was “a stellar moment to have to fund our schools” but again emphasized her concerns about potential inequities among districts.
“It’s so hard to vote against the teacher raise part of this but there’s something better out here that we could be doing that’s more equitable,” she argued.
Baker said she understood there was always more lawmakers could be doing to support education, adding she and others were working “feverously” to do all they could.
“I’m proud of the House Republicans for coming up with a plan that tries to make things fair and equitable for every student across the state,” she said.
Provenzano, and other House Democrats, were later much more critical of HB1935, with Rep. Forrest Bennett, D-Oklahoma City, noting his concern about the slippery constitutional slope the credit could be on with public dollars going to religious organizations due to “somebody in the executive branch who wants to bring in curriculum with a religious tint to it.” Bennett asked if Baker could provide an assurance of accountability on SDE’s part.
“I understand that point, as well,” Baker said. “Let me make this clear: we pushed back against ESA and voucher considerations just simply because we feel like there’s the expanded potential for fraud and abuse.”
Baker also emphasized there were a lot of parents who have reached out to the House GOP, expressing concerns about “what’s taking place in some of the schools” and want alternatives.
“That has been something that we’ve really had to try to figure out a solution to because we respect that parent and their right to choose,” Baker said. “We feel like this is the best approach.”
Provenzano was joined in speaking against HB1935 by Rep. Regina Goodwin, who argued the bill was inequitable to public schools.
“We don’t need to pretend that this is fair for all students and absolutely when we talk about Black and Brown students, we need to consider that because data shows us: they’re predominately educated in public schools,” Goodwin, D-Tulsa, said. “For us to say this has nothing to do with that, it’s a travesty.”
Provenzano argued the bill was creating two tracts for kids: “the public schools, who take everyone” and “the private schools, who pick and choose.”
“If we do this to our state, we will deepen the divide between our kids in poverty and the kids who can use this bill as a coupon for a discount on tuition,” she said. “To do this is unethical and to do it without equitable accountability is immoral.”
Closing debate, Baker said the COVID-19 pandemic opened the eyes of many parents as to what was taking place in classrooms they may not have agreed with.
“Those parents are the ones who have begged us, ‘Offer us a choice, give us a chance. Some of the things that we’re seeing are not consistent with the values in our home,’” she related.
HB1935 and HB2775 passed on votes of 27-8. They now move to the full House for further consideration.
Speaking to reporters several hours before the bills were considered, McCall said the plan would benefit “every student, every parent and every teacher.”
McCall said Gov. Kevin Stitt was aware of the plan and was supportive. Stitt proposed an education savings account plan in his state of the state speech and executive budget and a much less expensive, merit-based teacher pay plan.
McCall said Senate leaders also had been made aware of the plan. Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat’s leadership team met after Thursday’s floor session. The Senate Republican Caucus met early Thursday afternoon.
The tax credit proposal, McCall and House Appropriations and Budget Chair Kevin Wallace, R-Wellston, has an estimated fiscal impact of $300 million. The actual impact, they stressed, will depend on how many apply for and receive the credits.
|
|
Workforce bill approved to allow more CareerTech students to qualify for Oklahoma’s Promise |
|
More Oklahoma students wanting to continue their education through the state’s Career Technology system could soon be eligible for the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program (OHLAP) scholarship, also known as Oklahoma’s Promise, under legislation approved unanimously Wednesday by the Senate Appropriations Committee. Sen. Dewayne Pemberton, R-Muskogee, authored Senate Bill 27 to boost Oklahoma’s workforce by providing a new pathway for students to attain critically needed licenses and certifications through careertechs.
“Oklahoma’s Promise has helped thousands of students fulfill their dream of obtaining a higher education or attending a CareerTech by completing the stringent college preparatory curriculum,” Pemberton said. “Given that careertech programs and certifications can be completed in much less time than a traditional bachelor’s or even a two-year degree, my bill would allow students wishing to attend a careertech to qualify for the state tuition program by simply completing the high school core curriculum, making this an easier and more attainable path for many students.”
SB 27 would further allow all students wishing to continue their education to qualify for OHLAP with a composite SAT score of 1110 or higher, which is the equivalent to the current ACT score requirement of 22 or more.
Currently, to qualify for OHLAP, students must be an Oklahoma resident; enroll in the scholarship program in the 8th-11th grade; meet the family income requirements; maintain a 2.5 cumulative GPA; and be an upstanding citizen.
The bill, co-authored by Rep. Ken Luttrell, R-Ponca City, will next be considered by the full Senate.
|
|
Bill to increase Oklahoma teachers’ minimum pay passes Senate committee |
|
A sweeping raise for all Oklahoma teachers’ minimum pay unanimously advanced out of a Senate committee on Tuesday.
Senate Bill 482 would raise the base salary for public-school teachers in their first four years of service by $3,000. Educators working five to nine years in the classroom would see their minimum pay increase by $4,000, and base pay would jump by $5,000 for teachers with 10 to 14 years of tenure.
Teachers with a 15-year career or longer could see raises of $6,000.
The Senate Education Committee passed the bill from chairperson Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, without objection. The bill moves next to the Senate Appropriations and Budget Committee.
The Senate Chamber is pictured Thursday, March 10, 2022, inside the Oklahoma Capitol.
More:State Superintendent Ryan Walters wants teacher pay raises tied to student performance
Oklahoma must address its teacher shortage and compete with surrounding states that also are mulling pay increases, Pugh said.
“I think the market is telling us that we’re short of teachers, and the market is telling us the teaching profession overall is not an attractive profession to step into,” he said during the committee hearing.
Educators in New Mexico, Texas and Colorado already earn more on average than teachers in Oklahoma. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders recently proposed boosting starting salaries for teachers in her state to $50,000.
Oklahoma starts its minimum salary scale at $36,601 for first-year educators. Teachers in the state earn an average of $54,096 a year.
SB 482 would reset the starting minimum at $39,601.
The state last increased teacher wages by $6,100 in 2018 and by $1,200 in 2019.
Gov. Kevin Stitt and the state’s top education official, Ryan Walters, said Oklahoma should offer incentive-based raises instead of an across-the-board increase for all teachers.
|
|
Bill to lessen governor’s hold on State Board of Education clears House committee |
|
Two prominent House members targeted by big school-choice money in last year’s Republican primaries played an interesting card Tuesday in the high-stakes fight for control of the state’s public education system and the $7 billion that passes through it each year.
House Bill 2562, by state Reps. Rhonda Baker, R-Yukon, and Mark McBride, R-Moore, would dilute the governor’s near-total control of the Oklahoma State Board of Education. It cleared the House Common Education Committee, which Baker chairs, on a unanimous 9-0 vote with no discussion or debate.
Baker and McBride, chairman of the House Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee on Education, are listed as HB 2562’s authors on the bill and the committee agenda, but McBride presented it and is described as the author in a press release issued by the two later in the day.
“I wanted the House and the Senate to have seats at the table where education decisions are being made that affect the entire state of Oklahoma,” McBride said in that release. “And I wanted to ensure we are picking people with actual real-world public school experience.”
McBride and Baker have opposed the sort of private school subsidization promoted by Gov. Kevin Stitt and state Superintendent Ryan Walters. Along with several others, they were subjects of an expensive attack ad campaign during last year’s Republican primaries.
HB 2562 would add four members to the existing seven-member State Board of Education. Two would be appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives and two by the president of the Senate.
The bill further specifies that at least one of the speaker’s appointees must be a former superintendent of a district of fewer than 10,000 students and that one of the president pro tem’s must be a former superintendent of a district with more than 10,000 students.
The latest student data lists only 13 districts, including Epic Virtual Charter, with headcount enrollments of at least 10,000.
Currently, the state board consists of the elected state superintendent and six members appointed by the governor with consent of the Senate. A 2011 change in the law, though, allows the governor to replace the six appointed members at will; previously, members could be replaced only for cause.
The governor’s appointments represent each of the state’s five congressional districts plus one at-large member.
A companion bill, HB 2678, bars serving on both a local and the state school board simultaneously.
Also Tuesday, the House Public Safety Committee advanced legislation that would essentially outlaw the sort of citizen law enforcement oversight body that Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum and local policing reform activists have sought in recent years.
HB 2161, by Rep. Ross Ford, R-Broken Arrow, would require that two-thirds of “the members, staff, (and) employees” of any entity that investigates or recommends discipline for officer misconduct must be certified law officers.
Ford, a former Tulsa police officer, acknowledged that the requirement is so restrictive that it would have excluded the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation from looking into such charges had the bill not been amended.
Bynum and the others tried for several years to implement an “office of independent monitor,” separate from the Tulsa Police Department, to review use-of-force incidents and policy.
State Rep. Regina Goodwin, D-Tulsa, said the bill is another example of law enforcement protecting itself at the expense of citizens with legitimate complaints.
“All of this has to do with issues we’re dealing with today and have for 30 or more years, chipping away at the rights of citizens,” Goodwin said.
Ford disagreed.
“We want to make sure we have experts judging these tactics and actions,” he said. “If you have a complaint against a doctor, you go to the medical board. All of them are doctors. If you have a complaint against a judge, you go to a judiciary board. We’re saying only two-thirds have to be law officers.
“We want to make sure law officers are treated right,” he said. “We want to make sure the public is treated right.”
|
|
New commission proposed to develop ‘future workforce’ |
|
State Senate leaders hope to create a new entity that would give the private sector more power to develop its future workforce.
Senate Bill 621, by state Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, would create the Oklahoma Workforce Commission. The legislation was highlighted at a press conference held Wednesday at the Oklahoma History Center.
Leaders of the State Chamber, along with Gov. Kevin Stitt and members of the Workforce Transformation Task Force created by Stitt’s executive order, came together to present a plan they said would more efficiently create the workforce Oklahoma needs, advocates said.
SB 621 would create a new framework allowing for a mix of public and private dollars to fund state contracts with any organization that delivers on workforce development.
“There are a lot of groups doing really great work, and if there’s an outside group that is doing great work in the workforce space, we want to have the flexibility and the ability to … get them the funding that they need,” State Chamber CEO Chad Warmington said.
The new entity can be used to redirect funding away from programs that aren’t working toward organizations that are successfully growing the workforce, he said.
“It doesn’t have to be within government bureaucracies,” Warmington said. “The goal is whoever is doing it best and quickest. … We want those groups to take the lead and go.”
The legislation was developed over months of discussion on how best to address the state’s workforce shortage, said the bill’s author. Business leaders surveyed by the State Chamber last year had cited workforce as their No. 1 issue. The chamber’s research indicated there were 40,000 more jobs available in the state than there are eligible workers, Warmington said.
The commission would be made up of nine appointees: three by the president pro tempore of the Senate, three by the speaker of the House of Representatives and three by the governor. The legislation stipulates that all appointees to the commission must have at least three years of experience working in the private sector and that they have not been employed by any government entity for the previous five years.
Members of the commission would not be paid a salary for their services, but would be eligible to receive reimbursement from the state for travel and expenses.
SB 621 also would create a revolving fund that could accept money from government appropriations, federal grants, gifts and donations from the private sector and other sources. The commission would be given authority to use those funds to contract with any entity, be it a public agency, private company or nonprofit, for the purposes of workforce development.
“There’s a lot of private-sector dollars that can be spent on workforce and those can flow into this entity as well,” Warmington said.
Contracts approved by the commission would not be subject to the Oklahoma Central Purchasing Act or the state’s competitive bidding act.
Warmington and Pugh said they were focused on creating an entity that would coordinate the many varied efforts already underway statewide to advance the state’s workforce.
“Everyone was doing something wonderful and they were excelling in some area of creating the workforce that Oklahoma needs in the future, but no one was quarterbacking that effort,” Pugh said. “Senate Bill 621 works to create that quarterback.”
The Governor’s Council for Economic Development was created in 2014 to accomplish just that kind of coordination, aligning resources, education, training and job opportunities to build Oklahoma’s workforce. The state agency provides data collection and analysis, coordinating plans at the state and local level, and connecting workers with training programs and the companies that need them.
The entity that would be created by SB 621 would have much greater flexibility to obtain and spend revenues for workforce than the existing state agency, with the commission answering directly to the governor.
Lawmakers and business leaders have been working for months to develop a new framework that can address Oklahoma’s workforce shortages.
Oklahoma Secretary of Commerce and Workforce Development Chad Mariska and Warmington serve as co-chairs of governor’s Workforce Transformation Task Force, created in January.
Task force members also include state Rep. Brian Hill, R-Mustang; State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters; Secretary of Science and Innovation Elizabeth Pollard; President and CEO of Integris Health Tim Pehrson; Karen Pennington of Madison Strategies Group; Rick Nagel of Acorn Growth Cos.; and Jeff Stava of the George Kaiser Family Foundation.
|
|
Walters wants to demand schools disclose sex-related ‘identity’ changes to parents, allow partial sex ed opt-outs |
|
State Superintendent Ryan Walters has now formally proposed new rules for what materials could be considered obscene in public schools and new parental rights on sexual matters, including information about “material changes” in a child’s identity.
Public comments about the proposals can be made in writing through March 17 or in person at public hearings set for that same date.
Last week, Walters vowed to seek new administrative rules that would allow the Oklahoma State Board of Education to penalize schools with downgrades to their state accreditation for making available to students books or other materials he described as “pornographic” or “sexualized.”
Those proposed rules, as well as new ones outlining parental rights on sexual matters have now been published on the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s website for public review.
If the proposed new rules are approved by the State Board of Education, they would then be submitted to the Oklahoma Legislature for review during the 2023 legislative session, according to the website.
It also notes that administrative rule changes could also be approved by the governor.
In addition to pushing for taxpayer-funded private school and home school choices, Walters ran for office in 2022 on a platform of national culture-war issues such as school restroom access for transgender youths, banning certain school library books and ridding schools of other forms of what he calls “liberal indoctrination.”
He was sworn in last month.
Walters’ proposed new rules on parental rights would require schools to allow parents to inspect sexual education classroom materials and to have schools honor their written objections “in whole or in part” to sex ed “or any other instruction questioning beliefs or practices in sex, morality, or religion” without excluding students from the parts of instruction not objected to by the parent.
Those rules also would forbid any school employee from encouraging or coercing a minor child “to withhold information” from the child’s parents and require schools to disclose to parents “any information known to the school district or its employees regarding material changes reasonably expected to be important to parents regarding their child’s health, social, or psychological development, including Identity information.”
It adds: “Such disclosures shall occur within 30 days of learning the information and may include referrals … for appropriate counseling services that the Parent(s) or guardian(s) may use at their discretion.”
Walters’ proposed new rules on school library materials define “pornographic materials” in near-identical fashion to the state’s legal definition of “obscene materials.”
Those proposed rules state that within 60 days of their effective date, and annually every Oct. 1, each school district and Career Technology school be required to submit to the state a complete list of all books and other materials available in their school libraries and have a written policy for reviewing the “educational suitability and age-appropriate nature” of school library materials and for complaints regarding school library materials.
Both sets of newly proposed rules come with the following consequence: “If the state Board of Education makes a finding of willful noncompliance with any requirement of this section, the state Board of Education shall alter the accreditation status of the school district at issue,” the proposal states.
There are five public school accreditation statuses:
- Accredited with no deficiencies
- Accredited with deficiencies
- Accredited with warning
- Accredited with probation
- Nonaccredited
Downgrading a school’s state accreditation to probation status is essentially the state Board of Education’s final warning before a district could lose state accreditation and be forced to close.
|
|
Could Oklahoma Gov. Stitt’s power be reduced? Efforts underway to limit his control of agencies |
|
When Gov. Kevin Stitt entered office four years ago, the first-time politician convinced lawmakers to give him more control over appointments to state agencies, effectively making him the most powerful governor in Oklahoma history.
“Everyone will know the buck stops at the governor’s desk,” Stitt said in 2019 as he successfully lobbied the Legislature to embrace his agency reform proposal.
But early into Stitt’s second term, some Oklahoma lawmakers are now trying to whittle away at that power after a series of scandals and controversies within multiple state agencies.
“Centralized power is a problem and I think there needs to be more than one set of eyes, more oversight,” said Sen. Roger Thompson, R-Okemah, who authored a bill to reduce the governor’s control over the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department.
Sen. Roger Thompson, left, speaks with Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat on Feb. 7.
Another bill would take away gubernatorial appointments to the Oklahoma Veterans Commission. There is also a proposal to dilute the governor’s appointment power for the Oklahoma State Board of Education.
All three bills cleared initial committee hearings last week, and there are similar proposals targeting other agencies waiting to be heard.
At this early stage in the legislative session, agency reform bills still face a long road to passage, including having to override a likely governor’s veto.
But the proposals signal an appetite among some lawmakers that the power balance in state government needs to be recalibrated.
Thompson said his bill was inspired by questionable spending within the state Tourism Department, including deals made with Swadley’s Bar-B-Q to manage state park restaurants.
Truce at the top? Kevin Stitt and Republican leaders say last year’s battles behind them
Currently, the agency’s executive director, who is hired by the governor, has near-universal control over contracts and expenses.
But Thompson’s proposal would give the agency’s board more say over financial decisions.
“We are talking about taxpayer money so you can always use more oversight,” Thompson told The Oklahoman.
The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment but more control over state agencies was one of Stitt’s signature achievements during his first term.
Rep. Jay Steagall answers questions during a committee hearing on Feb. 7.
Bills would alter veterans and education boards
Like Thompson’s bill, House Bill 1080, which would take away some of the governor’s appointment power to the Oklahoma Veterans Commission, was also inspired by recent turmoil.
“I think it will help clean up a lot of the issues we are dealing with,” said Rep. Jay Steagall, the author of the bill that would reduce the governor’s appointments from nine to two.
Stitt’s most recent appointments to the veterans commission appeared to bypass a requirement that specific veteran organizations have a chance to weigh in.
Joel Kintsel, executive director of the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs, has refused to attend recent commission meetings, claiming the body is illegitimate.
Steagall’s bill would give the lieutenant governor, attorney general, labor commissioner and the leaders of the House and Senate appointments to the commission.
Steagall said he hasn’t spoken with Stitt about his proposal but acknowledged the challenge of trying to decrease the governor’s power over an agency.
“Being a 22-plus-year veteran myself, these people (served by the ODVA) are my family and I want to make sure the services they are provided go on uninterrupted,” Steagall told The Oklahoman. “I am happy to stick my neck out for them because they stick their necks out for all of us.”
House Bill 2562 would add four seats to the seven-member state Board of Education, with the new appointments split between the leaders of the House and Senate.
The state superintendent of public instruction, who chairs the board, would remain an elected official, and the governor would still have appointment power over seven members.
“I wanted the House and the Senate to have seats at the table where education decisions are being made that affect the entire state of Oklahoma,” said Rep. Mark McBride, R-Moore, the bill’s author.
Sen. Julia Kirt asks a question during a Feb. 8 Senate Rules Committee meeting.
Oklahoma Democrats are ‘happy to help’ decentralize state agency power
Sen. Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, said she wasn’t surprised to see bills this year seeking to reduce the governor’s power.
“It’s really hard not to say ‘I told you so,’” Kirt said.
Kirt said Democrats opposed bills a few years ago that gave the governor more control over state agency boards and directors because they saw them as “dangerous and questionable.”
Thompson, author of the bill to alter the tourism board, said he voted for the bill five years ago that gave the governor more power over the agency.
“But that did not work,” Thompson told The Oklahoman.
If any of the bills receive floor votes, Sen. Jo Anna Dossett, D-Tulsa, predicted her Democratic colleagues would support the effort.
“We are happy to help chip away at concentrations of power,” Dossett said.
|
|
Bill to hike statewide elected officials’ pay moves through House committee |
|
The pay of Oklahoma’s statewide officials would jump an average of 35%, but not right away, under legislation put forward in the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
House Bill 2860, by Rep. Kevin Wallace, R-Wellston, would provide for the 11 statewide office-holders’ first pay raises since 2008 and would not go into effect until the current terms for each expire. The first office to be affected would be the Corporation Commission seat coming open in 2024. The other 10 positions would see increases after the 2026 elections.
The full Appropriations and Budget Committee approved the measure, which did not go through a subcommittee, 22-6, with Rep. Forrest Bennett, D-Oklahoma City, quipping, “Was there any discussion about implementing a merit-based pay system?”
More seriously, Bennett said he opposed taking up the issue before more pressing matters, including pay for teachers and other state employees.
Wallace, the Appropriations and Budget Committee chair, said his bill would have no impact on the budget currently being developed and that in any event the raises amount to less than $500,000 a year in total.
Wallace’s bill proposes raising the governor from $147,000 a year to $199,000 and the attorney general from $132,825 to $180,000. The other nine offices — three corporation commissioners, labor commissioner, insurance commissioner, state superintendent, treasurer, lieutenant governor, and auditor and inspector — would all be set at $155,000.
Those officers are now paid varying amounts ranging from $105,053 to $124,323.
In something of a surprise, the committee was also presented with legislation that would resume enrollment of new employees in the state’s defined benefit retirement pension. New employees have been required to enroll in a defined contribution plan — a 401(k) — for about a decade.
HB 2854, by Wallace, passed 23-7.
Also Wednesday, the House Alcohol, Tobacco and Controlled Substances Committee advanced several medical marijuana bills.
House Bill 1347, by Rep. Scott Fetgatter, R-Okmulgee, would direct the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority to issue a request for proposals and select a seed-to-sale tracking vendor within 30 days of the act’s effective date, which as now written would be immediately upon the governor’s signature.
Oklahoma has had considerable difficulty implementing a seed-to-sale system, which officials say has made collecting relevant taxes and preventing illegal sales more difficult.
Also passed was HB 1350, also by Fetgatter, which would stretch out the medical marijuana licensing process and require more information from applicants. The House passed similar legislation last year but couldn’t get it heard in the Senate.
Another marijuana-related bill approved by the committee was HB 1734, by Rep. Tammy Townley, R-Ardmore, which would require dispensaries to post signs warning pregnant women that cannabis use can lead to low birth weights.
The committee also OK’d HB 2107, by Rep. Daniel Pae, R-Lawton, which would authorize research of psilocybin and psilocyn — psychedelic substances produced by some mushrooms. Some maintain that psilocybin and psilocyn can be useful in the treatment of some conditions, including depression, anxiety and chronic pain, and for palliative care.
The Criminal Justice and Corrections Committee, meanwhile, approved HB 1546, by Rep. Anthony Moore, R-Clinton, which would create an “Orange Alert” to notify residents of escaped inmates. The alert would use the same network as the existing Amber and Silver alert programs and would be limited to a 40-mile radius from the escape point.
|
|
OkACTE tracks and monitors legislative bills. These bills can vary from CareerTech education policy, common education policy, education funding, teacher pay raise, tax credits, licensing, Ad Valorem, retirement, state employee pay raise, guns, economic development and much more.
Of these bills, we've compiled a listing of CTE Priority Measures linked below.
|
|
OkACTE focuses heavily on legislative advocacy. Each year, OkACTE prepares a legislative agenda, a plan, for lobbying at the Oklahoma Capitol. This document, coupled with a breakdown on the Oklahoma CareerTech budget is a great resource when visiting the Oklahoma Capitol, or visiting with your local legislator. Download the document below.
|
|
February 2023
Feb. 21: House Bills & House Joint Resolutions from House Subcommittees Deadline
March 2023
March 3: Senate Measures from Senate Committees Deadline (Bills & Joint Resolutions)
March 3: House Measures from House Full/Standing Committees Deadline (Bills & Joint Resolutions)
March 24: House Third Reading Deadline (House Bills & House Joint Resolutions)
March 24: Senate Third Reading Deadline (Senate Bills & House Joint Resolutions)
April 2023
April 4: House Deadline to Report Out of Subcommittees (Senate Bills & Senate Joint Resolutions)
April 14: House Measures from Senate Committees Deadline (Bills & Joint Resolutions)
April 14: Senate Measures from House Committees Deadline, Except for Full A&B Committee (Senate Bills & Senate Joint Resolutions)
April 22: Senate Measures from House Full A&B Committee Deadline (Senate Bills & Senate Joint Resolutions)
April 28: House & Senate Third Reading Deadline, Opposite Chamber (Bills & Joint Resolutions)
May 2023
May 27: Sine Die Adjournment (5:00 p.m.)
|
|
See what's happening on our social sites |
|
|
|
|
|
|
