February 9, 2026

Gov. Kevin Stitt kicked off the second session of the 60^th Legislature on Monday, February 2, with his final State of the State address before both chambers. See the articles below for additional details on his address.

Also, last week's committee meetings in both chambers commenced, marking the first step in advancing the more than 5,000 bills eligible for consideration this session.

• Click here to view Gov. Stitt’s FY27 budget.
• Click here to read the State of the State transcript.

Gov. Kevin Stitt on Monday called on Oklahoma lawmakers to place four state questions on an upcoming ballot that would overhaul government spending and voter-approved health initiatives. 

The term-limited Republican governor in his final State of the State address urged lawmakers to send two state questions — adjusting Medicaid expansion and eliminating the medical marijuana industry — to voters. The two questions could undo citizen-led initiatives and would attempt to reverse voters’ decisions at the ballot box. Stitt’s other two proposed state questions would freeze property tax growth and cap state spending as part of his broader push to lower state expenditures.

During his 30-minute speech, Stitt touted tax cuts, which have left the state with $1.6 billion less to spend. Still, he urged the Republican-controlled Legislature to further reduce spending and to become less reliant on the federal government, which he said “isn’t a reliable partner” any more. 

“Government dependency is a trap,” he said. “It robs self-reliance and balloons budgets. I always say government programs should be a trampoline, not a hammock, but too often that is not the case.”

‘Adjusting’ Medicaid expansion

With his hand noticeably wrapped in bandages due to a cooking accident, Stitt said Medicaid is “driving massive spending growth while enabling waste.” He said he wants lawmakers to send a state question to voters that would “allow for adjustments” to Medicaid expansion.

He did not specify what those adjustments could be. 

Oklahoma voters enshrined Medicaid expansion into its state constitution in 2020, which requires offering coverage to all adults below age 65 who make less than $21,597 a year.

Any changes to the voter-approved measure need to be approved at the ballot box. 

Over 280,000 Oklahomans have benefited from the expansion, which also lowered the state’s uninsured rates, according to the nonpartisan Oklahoma Policy Institute.

But Stitt said in 10 years, Medicaid is projected “to eat up 37% of our annual budget” and cost the state $6 billion dollars. 

“We have to make a change,” he said.

House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, said he supported the governor’s idea for a state question to adjust Medicaid expansion. 

He said costs have been skyrocketing and there’s a need to address them as the Oklahoma Health Care Authority’s budget request nears $2 billion this year with utilization increasing from the Medicaid and Medicaid expansion populations. 

Rich Rasmussen, president and CEO of the Oklahoma Hospital Association, said Medicaid expansion is a “cost-efficient system” that has improved health outcomes and limiting it would “undermine care for all Oklahomans.”

“The governor clearly has a misunderstanding, or is so disconnected to what everyday folks are going through, that he doesn’t understand what’s happening in health care across the state, the economic challenges that we’re facing right now in Oklahoma,” said House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City.

Closing down medical marijuana industry

Stitt also called on lawmakers to “shut down” the state’s medical marijuana industry, calling it one of the “greatest threats to public safety.”

Voters approved legalizing medical marijuana in 2018 by codifying it in state statute. While shutting down the industry would not require voters’ approval, Stitt said he wants lawmakers to put the issue to another vote.

“These (medical marijuana) storefronts hide an industry that enables cartel activity, human trafficking, and foreign influence in our state,” he said. 

Lawmakers allowed medical marijuana legalization to take effect without a regulatory framework and have been playing catch up in years since.

The industry has generated hundreds of millions in revenue and licensing fees. A tax on medical marijuana generated over $47 million in the 2025 fiscal year, according to a report from the Oklahoma Tax Commission. 

The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority reported hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans have been issued medical marijuna licenses, and nearly 5,000 businesses are actively licensed. 

Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, said he supports having further conversations about a medical marijuana state question and there’s probably a way to build out an “actual medical marijuana program.” 

“When you’re actually reversing the vote of the people,” he said. “I think the appropriate place would be to put it back in front of the people rather than just saying, ‘Oh, this didn’t work, we’re going to undo your state question.’ We do take seriously the voters’ intent and what the voters actually voted on.”

Freezing property taxes, state government spending

The third state question Stitt suggested to lawmakers would be to freeze property taxes for “all levels.” Property taxes are a major funding source for public schools, CareerTech centers, county government operations, libraries and county health departments. 

He said the freezing rates would provide relief to property owners but did not elaborate further.

Paxton said while lawmakers want to give relief to homeowners, they also don’t want to “wreck” a county or school district. 

Stitt’s final suggested state question would amend Oklahoma’s constitution to place a 3% annual cap on recurring spending growth, meaning lawmakers would be limited on how much they can spend when crafting the state budget every year.

Gov. Kevin Stitt’s executive budget spends fewer dollars than last year with most agencies getting no additional funds.

Stitt on Monday unveiled his executive budget, which is a starting point for lawmakers who are expected to spend the next four months crafting a state spending plan.

Stitt’s budget proposes appropriating nearly $11.4 billion for fiscal year 2027, down from nearly $12.6 billion for the fiscal year 2026, which ends June 30, according to the executive budget summary obtained by Oklahoma Voice on Monday.

Stitt proposes giving the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services $17 million to implement a consent decree the state entered to resolve a class action lawsuit. The suit was brought by indigent defendants who had been waiting months or even years in county jails to access competency restoration services. 

As part of a federal court settlement agreement, the state agreed to improve access to competency restoration, but monitors of the suit have said the state has missed required benchmarks. The state has been hit with several million dollars in fines.

Stitt’s budget also proposes giving the Oklahoma Health Care Authority $250 million in supplemental and one-time appropriations to compensate for a reduction in the Federal Medical Assistance Program Percentages, or rates used to determine the federal government’s share of funding for certain programs. 

The dollars would also be used to maintain existing programs and for an additional claims week in fiscal year 2027.

The Health Care Authority administers the state’s Medicaid program, of which $1.4 billion come from state appropriations and the bulk of its budget coming from federal dollars

The agency sought a budget increase of $495 million.

The proposed budget includes $6.75 million for an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper academy. DPS had requested funding to host two academies with hopes of graduating 50 troopers from each.

Stitt wants to use $1.57 million to replenish the State Emergency Fund. A panel tapped last year to mitigate the impact on food stamp beneficiaries during a federal government shutdown. The Emergency Fund provides financial help during emergencies, such as disaster recovery.

Stitt’s budget gives the Oklahoma Department of Education an increase of $23.7 million to pay for employee benefits. The budget otherwise largely holds flat public school spending.

Senate Minority Leader, Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, said she was disappointed that Stitt’s budget does not include funding for teacher raises or child care programs or additional dollars for mental health programs.

CareerTech would receive a $1.3 million hike for benefits.

Key agencies that receive a standstill budget include the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, Oklahoma Attorney General, Office of Juvenile Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Health and Department of Human Services.

The Legislature and Stitt’s office would also receive flat budgets.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Chuck Hall, R-Perry, said he and his counterpart in the House will meet Tuesday with Stitt’s team to go over the proposal.

Stitt’s budget proposes giving $20 million to the Quick Action Closing Fund, which is used to lure businesses to the state.

Oklahoma has slightly more than $1.3 billion in its Rainy Day Fund. The Revenue Stabilization Fund contains nearly $449 million.

Lawmakers have until the end of May to adopt the state budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

A House committee on public schools advanced bills on Wednesday to move annual state testing to May, to increase teacher training time and to ban sexually explicit materials from school libraries.

Reading, math, science and U.S. history tests, usually administered each year in March and April, would take place only from May 1-31 under House Bill 4359. Rep. Anthony Moore, R-Clinton, said he wrote the measure to give students more time to prepare for end-of-year tests.

The House Common Education Committee approved the bill unanimously, sending it to the House Education Oversight Committee for further consideration.

HB 4115 from Rep. Tammy West, R-Oklahoma City, also passed unanimously. West’s bill increases the maximum number of professional development hours that can be required of public school teachers from 150 to 200.

Raising the maximum would give schools more flexibility, especially if the Legislature adds professional development requirements in the future, West said.

“I think especially our newer teachers, they may need a little extra time,” she said during the committee meeting. “And I want to make sure that we have that opportunity for local districts (and) the principals to make the decision that if teachers need this, it’s available.”

The committee also approved a bill prohibiting schools from having books with “sexually explicit conduct” in their libraries. Current state law requires school library books to reflect the community standards for the population the library serves.

Rep. Chris Banning, R-Bixby, said he filed HB 2978 to remove books “that completely disgrace women that we can’t read out loud.”

The bill passed by a vote of 10-1. 

Rep. Ellen Pogemiller, D-Oklahoma City, cast the lone vote against it. She voiced concerns for students in Advanced Placement courses whose access to required books might be cut off.

Committee leader Rep. Dick Lowe, R-Amber, saw his legislation HB 3032 pass in an 8-2 vote. The bill would require families to complete an application for free and reduced-price school meals during student enrollment. Parents would have the choice to complete an opt-out form.

The federal National School Lunch Program funds school meals for students from low-income households, as long as the child’s guardian has filled out an application.

Families enrolled in schools or districts that already provide free meals to all students regardless of household income would be exempt from completing an application under HB 3032, as would children who qualify for free meals through other means, such as being on Medicaid.

No references to Jesus, claims of “discrepancies” in 2020 elections nor disputed allegations about the origin of COVID-19 were included in a new draft of academic standards for social studies courses in Oklahoma public schools.

The new draft deletes controversial elements of a 2025 version of the standards that the Oklahoma Supreme Court struck down over violations of state open meeting laws.

The Oklahoma State Department of Education on Wednesday unveiled the newly drafted standards, which dictate what public schools must teach in social studies classes. Members of the public can give feedback on the standards through Feb. 18 before they’re presented to the Oklahoma State Board of Education and, if approved, handed to the state Legislature for review.

The state Board of Education meets next on Feb. 26. If the board gives approval, state lawmakers would have 30 legislative days to vote on the standards or allow them to pass by taking no action.

Under the new draft, public schools wouldn’t be required to teach students Bible stories nor a disputed claim that COVID-19 originated in a Chinese lab. References to patriotism are pared down, though not completely removed, and students wouldn’t be taught how the Bible and Judeo-Christian ideals influenced America’s founders.

High school students wouldn’t be asked to “identify discrepancies” in the 2020 presidential election between former President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump, including “sudden halting of ballot-counting in select cities in key battleground states, sudden batch dumps, an unforeseen record number of voters and the unprecedented contradiction of ‘bellwether county’ trends.”

Half of the state Board of Education members who voted in favor of the former standards later said they had no idea new, controversial content had been added about COVID-19 and the 2020 election. Neither element was included in an initial standards draft, and Education Department staff didn’t point out any changes in an updated version given to board members mere hours before the vote.

The state Supreme Court decided former state Superintendent Ryan Walters and his Education Department administration, which developed the now-defunct standards, failed to give the board members and the public sufficient advance notice of the new content. This violated the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act, the Court ruled.

The lawsuit that prompted the Court’s ruling also contended the new standards wrongfully injected Christian teachings into public education and would violate students’ religious freedoms. The justices declined to rule on that issue.

Walters called the Court ruling an “incredibly aggressive attack on Christianity, the Bible (and) on President Trump” in a video posted to social media.

Walters resigned from office Sept. 30 to lead an anti-teacher-union organization. State Superintendent Lindel Fields, who was appointed to finish Walters’ term, promised a rewrite of the social studies standards.

“I think we need to look at all of the things that were added to see if they’re germane to what kids need to learn,” Fields told news reporters after an Oct. 22 meeting.

The Education Department reconvened a team of educators to reevaluate the social studies standards, said Tara Thompson, a spokesperson for Fields’ administration. The committee made further revisions to prepare the latest draft for public input.

“The public comment portion is open from now until February 18 and every single comment submitted is read and considered,” Thompson said. “At the end of the review process, the board will have the opportunity to adopt or modify the drafted standards.”

State Board of Education member Chris Van Denhende said he is confident the Education Department is “committed to creating the best standards possible.” Van Denhende was one of the board members who said he voted for last year’s standards without knowing about Walters’ last-minute additions. 

“The board is working closely with Superintendent Fields and the Department of Education to ensure all new standards are developed in an open and transparent way allowing the public full access and opportunity to comment prior to any action being taken by the board,” Van Denhende said.

House Speaker Pro Tempore Anthony Moore, R-Clinton, has filed a trio of bills to improve education outcomes for Oklahoma students and to provide greater access to higher learning.

House Bill 4358 would require public schools, starting with the 2026-27 school year, to limit to one hour per school day electronic screen time for students in prekindergarten through fifth grade across all subject areas.

“Study after study shows that limiting screen time for young children results in better brain function and focus, more creativity, better sleep and so much more – all of which lead to better learning outcomes for our kids,” Moore said. “Oklahoma children deserve face-to-face time with their teachers and peers, not instruction through an electronic device.

House Bill 4359 would require state academic assessments in public elementary and secondary schools to be held during the month May each year beginning with next school year.

“When academic assessments are held too early, students can miss up to a month of additional learning,” Moore said. “If state tests are held in April, for example, students might spend the month of May watching movies or only half-heartedly reviewing lessons on which they know they won’t be tested. Changing this schedule means our students have more time to prepare for end-of-year tests, and the test results themselves are more accurate and have greater meaning.”

HB4326 would expand access to the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program, known as Oklahoma’s Promise scholarship, to students of public K-12 school counselors, librarians, school nurses or athletic trainers and those who teach at CareerTechs.

This builds on legislation Moore passed last year, House Bill 1727, that extended the scholarship to children of all educators who are considered in statute as full-time certified teachers who have taught for at least 10 years in Oklahoma public schools. That became effective July 1.

“The goal is to ensure more students can go to college,” Moore said. “Data is clear that college graduates earn more than high school graduates. That benefits the students and society as a whole. This also serves as an added benefit for those who work directly with students in our public schools.”

HB 4386 clarifies that a certified teacher includes any full-time classroom teacher who is standard or alternatively certified by the State Board of Education and who teaches a classroom subject as determined by the State Regents. The bill also adds that a certified teacher shall be considered the parent of a student if the teacher is the natural or adoptive parent or the permanent legal guardian of the student. Children of emergency or provisionally certified teachers would not automatically qualify for the scholarship, only if they otherwise meet financial need and other eligibility requirements.

The measure also would extend the scholarship to qualifying students seeking admission to CareerTech and to students that were in the custody of the state or a federally recognized Indian tribe.

It would raise from 17 to 18 the age of a student in public or private school who may apply for the scholarship beginning in the eighth grade through Dec. 31 of their senior year. Students educated by other means may apply from the age of 13 until they reach 18.

These measures are eligible for consideration during the Second Regular Session of the 60^th Legislature, which convened Feb. 2.

Oklahoma higher education officials are projecting an increase in enrollment to a state scholarship program and an estimated 21.6% related jump in costs in the coming years amid shifting eligibility and application requirements.

Lawmakers, meanwhile, are eyeing nearly 20 bills that could dramatically expand eligibility for the Oklahoma’s Promise scholarship program and balloon the program’s price tag to as much as $500 million a year, higher education officials said.

The program, which provides qualifying children from lower-income families with free tuition, had over 15,000 participants during the 2024-25 school year, according to a report from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. Over 4,400 degrees were conferred to scholarship recipients during the same school year.

The number of recipients is projected to increase in the coming years as eligibility parameters changed during the last legislative session that included changes to income limits and expanding the program to some public school teachers’ children.

The report estimates that the program will have over 17,000 participants in the 2025-26 school year and over 18,300 in the 2026-27 school year.

Officials also projected the scholarship program’s expenditures would also grow to over $88 million by the 2026-27 school year, up from $72.4 million in 2024-25.

Chancellor Sean Burrage said Oklahoma’s Promise is continuing to deliver strong results, with students enrolling in college and persisting in their education at higher rates than peers who are not involved in the program.

Almost 93% of Oklahoma Promise graduates are employed in the state one year after graduation and nearly 85% are still in Oklahoma after five years, he said.

“That tells us this program is not only expanding opportunity, but it is also strong workforce investment delivers long term value to stay,” Burrage said. “We appreciate the Legislature’s continued support of this program and look forward to continuing conversations about strengthening it during the current legislative session.”

Lawmakers last session expanded the program to the children of eligible Oklahoma teachers, but only allocated enough funding for 15 students. Officials said the demand for the program far outweighed the available funding.

Jarrett Jobe, vice chancellor for government relations for the State Regents, said the program’s expansion to include educators’ children was very popular. Now there are around 19 other bills that state lawmakers have filed seeking to further expand the program.

The price tags on some of the bills can reach up to $300 million and $500 million, he said.

“We’re encouraging legislators, as they look at these Promise bills, to recognize that expansion to postsecondary opportunities for the Promise is a great program, but we also have to be cognizant of the cost that would occur with some of these bills,” Jobe said.

Reducing by one-fourth the instructional hours required for some bachelor’s degrees was among higher education reforms Gov. Kevin Stitt put forward Thursday in two executive orders and an address to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.

Stitt also called for phasing out or curtailing faculty tenure and urged legislation capping wrongful termination lawsuits against universities by dismissed faculty and staff.

The orders were the latest in a recent spate as Stitt enters his final year in office.

“I’m pushing for a 90-hour bachelor’s degree pathway to cut costs and get students into good jobs,” Stitt said in announcing the executive orders. “I am also pushing tenure reforms that tie accountability to performance at public institutions.”

In person, Stitt told regents that cutting the hours required for a bachelor’s degree from the traditional standard of around 120 to 90 “speeds up workforce entry. This makes so much sense.”

Stitt’s order instructs the state regents to institute a 90-day feasibility study of shortened bachelor’s degree program.

In his remarks, Stitt left no doubt how he expects the feasibility study to turn out.

“Once you’ve completed the feasibility study,” Stitt told the regents, “I’ll need your help to make sure this vision cascades throughout the higher education system.”

A handful of U.S. colleges have initiated pilot programs for 90-hour degrees. As recently as two years ago, Church of Latter Day Saints-affiliated Brigham Young University-Idaho and Ensign College were the only two schools in the country with degree programs requiring less than 120 hours.

Several dozen, though, have joined College-in-3 Exchange, a “collective of U.S. campuses hosting conversations to design undergraduate degree options that increase student success while decreasing student costs.”

Most schools involved are small, but the membership includes Georgetown, Kansas State and the University of Maine system.

How to compress 120 hours of instruction into 90 without affecting quality, and how those programs would meet accreditation standards, remains a matter of discussion.

Perhaps of note, Stitt’s initiative to reduce the hours college students spend in the classroom coincides with a legislative drive to increase instructional hours for K-12 students.

College-in-3 lists no Oklahoma members, but an email from the state regents said the agency is “developing a policy structure to review 90-hour baccalaureate pathways, which will help the State Regents identify where accelerated bachelor’s degrees may be appropriate based on factors including campus mission, workforce needs, and accreditation implications.”

Despite his two executive orders, Stitt’s ability to dictate higher education policy is limited by a state constitution that affords Oklahoma’s public higher education system a degree of independence. Attorney Bob Burke, an authority on the Oklahoma constitution, said he doubts the orders are fully enforceable.

Eight of the nine state regents are Stitt appointees, however, and he does have veto power over state appropriations.

Chancellor Sean Burrage — a former state senator, a former university president and a member of one of Oklahoma’s more politically savvy families — responded diplomatically to Stitt’s message.

“Gov. Stitt’s executive orders … reflect his ongoing engagement with public higher education and our shared commitment to accountability, affordability, and alignment with Oklahoma’s most pressing workforce needs,” he said in a written statement.

Burrage went on to say the regents are already doing or developing many of the initiatives in Stitt’s orders.

“We stand ready to serve as a resource to the governing boards and institutions as they review the executive order and work through any necessary policy changes,” he concluded.

Oklahoma House lawmakers on Wednesday considered measures that would create limitations on the use of food assistance funds in an effort to curtail fraud and cut costs. 

One bill would prevent Oklahoma Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program dollars from being spent out of state while another would require the Oklahoma Department of Human Services to verify the lawful immigration status of welfare recipients. 

“The goal of this is to reduce bad out of state actors from stealing these very important, crucial benefits from our clients,” said Rep. Emily Gise, R-Oklahoma City. 

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, has been subject to federal changes that raised the cost of running the program for states. DHS included a request for $25 million to cover the higher cost of administering SNAP for the state agency in the next fiscal year, according to reporting from KOSU. 

Further changes to SNAP are coming as a result of Congress passing House Resolution 1, or the Big Beautiful Bill, in July which led to DHS requesting greater funds to administer the program in Oklahoma. 

Because of the federal changes to SNAP, states will be forced to pay a greater share of SNAP’s administrative costs, shifting from a 25/75 split to a 50/50 split. Oklahoma DHS officials estimated in October that this would increase the state share by about $34 million. 

Oklahoma and other states will also be required to pay for a portion of the awarded SNAP benefits based on the state’s error rate. Error rates are not always fraud or “bad actors,” but can refer to overpayments, underpayments or SNAP beneficiaries failing to update their income, Gise said. 

The higher a state’s SNAP error rate, the more they’ll have to contribute to the program based on a sliding scale. Oklahoma’s error rate is 10.87%, according to the most recent U.S. Department of Agriculture data. At this rate, Oklahoma would have to match 15% of SNAP funding, which is about $248 million. The error rate would need to be below 6% to avoid additional state matching funds. 

Gise, vice chair of the House Human Services budget committee, said she had heard anecdotal stories from DHS about out-of-state fraud which led to her authoring House Bill 2984. 

SNAP funds wouldn’t be able to be used outside the state of Oklahoma under her bill, which unanimously advanced from committee. She said the goal of the bill is to reduce the number of “out-of-state bad actors” taking advantage of Oklahoma’s SNAP dollars. 

“By putting this requirement in place, we will be adding a veil of protection for our clients and will protect them from card skimming and that money being stolen,” Gise said. “Once the money is stolen, unfortunately, the Department of Human Services is not able to replenish that cash, and that family will potentially go without food for that month. We heavily rely on our community partners to fill the gap, and so it depletes those resources in our counties.”

Rep. Meloyde Blancett, D-Tulsa, said she had concerns about Oklahomans living near state lines whose closest option for groceries is in a neighboring state. 

Gise said she’s considering including a potential radius for how far SNAP recipients can go to spend their dollars, but is working with DHS to see how feasible this is. 

The state agency is actively working toward other solutions, she said, including greater support for case managers, further cross referencing for income assessments, and improving on the technology for SNAP cards to prevent fraud like skimming, she said. 

Gise said a bill from House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, would help create greater accountability in where SNAP dollars go which could cut down on fraud and reduce Oklahoma’s payment error rate. 

Hilbert authored House Bill 4422 which would require DHS to verify the immigration status of various welfare programs, including SNAP and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. The bill advanced from committee 7-1, with the only no vote coming from a Democrat. 

SNAP has generally never been available to noncitizens, according to the USDA, except in certain circumstances. 

The bill would require DHS to review lawful immigration status and report any SNAP or TANF applicants who are not in the country legally to the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

DHS would also be required to post notice on the agency’s website that immigration status will be reviewed as part of the application process for SNAP or TANF. 

“I wanted to improve our verification system, our wellness system, make sure that those recipients of these dollars are, in fact, American citizens,” Hilbert said. “And that is something that I’ve heard resoundingly from my constituents and folks around the state, that welfare recipients should be American citizens. I don’t think that is a controversial thing.”

The Oklahoma Senate on Wednesday passed a measure designed to protect churchgoers from those seeking to disrupt their religious services.

Senate Bill 743, by Sen. Todd Gollihare, R-Kellyville, passed by a vote of 31-15 and heads to Gov. Kevin Stitt for consideration. The measure was a holdover from the last session. 

Gollihare said the measure was needed in the wake of incidents on Jan. 18 at the Cities Church in St. Paul, Minn., and in March at his church, Blue Bell Freewill Baptist Church in Creek County.

In Minnesota, protestors last month disrupted a service as they chanted, demanding justice for a woman who was killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. That church’s pastor also serves as an ICE field director.

Gollihare said individuals upset with his vote against an unconstitutional abortion bill showed up at his church before a service and told the pastor they were there to “admonish” Gollihare. They were asked to leave more than once before the pastor called law enforcement, he said.

The individuals told the pastor he and the church were “demonic” and called a woman entering the church a “witch,” Gollihare said.

He said the individuals were there to cause conflict, not protest.

They moved from the porch to another area and “harassed” and “harangued” those seeking to enter, he said.

“Some people looked at the scene and just left and went home and didn’t go to church that day,” Gollihare said.

He said people can still protest, but must do so within specific parameters. Anyone within 100 feet of a place of worship would be required to give worshippers a corridor of 8 feet, unless invited to approach. 

“This is a protection of worship bill,” Gollihare said.

Sen. Dusty Deevers, R-Elgin, a pastor who peppered Gollihare with questions, said the measure was an attack on free speech and should be struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Sen. Kendal Sacchieri, R-Blanchard, said the measure was “an extreme new law,” adding that she was afraid of the precedent it might set.

The measure needs better guard rails and definitions to protect First Amendment rights, she said.

The measure has an emergency clause and would become effective upon Stitt’s signature.

Legislative Deadlines:

February 2026

• Wednesday, Feb. 11: Deadline to file shell bill language and to change top 8 bill preference
• Thursday, February 19: Deadline for HBs/HJRs out of Policy Committees & Appropriations Subcommittees

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March 2026

• Thursday, March 5: Deadline for HBs/HJRs out of Oversight, Admin Rules, Appropriations & Rules Committees
• Thursday, March 5: Deadline for House Bills and Joint Resolutions to be Reported from Oversight, Admin Rules, Appropriations and Rules Committees
• Thursday, March 26: Deadline for Third Reading and Final Passage of Bills and Joint Resolutions from chamber of origin

April 2026

• Thursday, April 9: Deadline for SBs/SJRs out of Policy Committees & Appropriation Subcommittees
• Thursday, April 23: Deadline for SBs/SJRs out of Oversight, Admin Rules, Appropriations & Rules Committees
• Thursday, April 23: Deadline for House Bills and Joint Resolutions to be Reported from Committee (Senate)

May 2026

•  Thursday, May 7: Deadline for Third Reading and Final Passage of Bills and Joint Resolutions from opposite chamber
•  Friday, May 29 (no later than 5:00 p.m.): The Second Regular Session of the 60th Oklahoma Legislature Sine Die Adjournment

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 on the OkACTE Legislative Resources page.

Visit oklegislature.gov to view entire text of the measures.