By Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy CEO Joe Dorman
On Wednesday, November 20, the new class of Oklahoma lawmakers will take office.
In total, 31 new Oklahoma lawmakers – 17 in the House and 14 in the Senate – will join 117 veteran lawmakers for the first session of the 60th Oklahoma Legislature. There is one remaining seat to be filled in the state Senate for District 8, formerly held by Sen. Roger Thompson. That Special Primary Election will be held March 4, 2025, and if necessary, the Runoff Primary will be on Tuesday, April 1. The Special General Election will be May 13, 2025.
The House Republican Caucus has 81 of the 101 members in the House of Representatives. In the Senate, the GOP controls 39 of the 48 seats, with expectation that the Thompson seat will remain in Republican hands. There are 20 Democrats in the House and eight in the Senate.
While I am looking forward to working with many of the newly elected officials who will serve during the next two years, I also want to thank those leaving state service. Personally, many of these individuals have been great allies as we work for better policies to benefit Oklahoma’s youth. While we might not have seen eye to eye every single time, I knew that each was doing what they felt was best.
Civility appears to be a dying sentiment at all levels of government. In the past, most elected officials could agree to disagree on issues and still find common ground on policies which had a little from each side’s position included. Now, it feels like an official is demonized if they dare seek a solution that is not ideologically pure.
Even friendships across party lines seem to be out of fashion, which is really disappointing. When I served in the House of Representatives, I was proud to have friendships with lawmakers from both parties – friendships that endure to this day. The reason these have lasted is because we cared about the future of Oklahoma, even if we disagreed on how to get there.
The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) works to improve the lives of children, seeking out policymakers who will sit down and discuss the variety of issues impacting children. Developing the Children’s Legislative Agenda begins with our annual Fall Forum policy conference being held this week. We will discuss different ideas presented by advocates for legislative or agency solutions. The issue areas we will discuss, among others, at Fall Forum are:
1) Support Programs and Services for Foster Families and Biological Parents/Guardians,
2) Accessibility to Health-Related Services and Programs,
3) Learning Loss and Educational Opportunities for Children, and
4) Childcare and Family Leave Programs.
Once done, our team will seek out authors of legislation for those concepts. The bill drafting request deadline is Friday, December 6; that’s when lawmakers must submit ideas to the legislative staff for bills. Staff then will begin the arduous process of drafting these ideas into a bill format for where it will best fit into the Oklahoma Statutes.
There will roughly be one month for the staff to complete bill drafting; to put into perspective what a heavy lift this is, in 2023, lawmakers filed more than 3,000 bills. I expect that we will see similar numbers this year. State senators can file as many bills as they want, while state representatives are capped at eight bills each. Of course, members of House leadership are allowed more.
If you or an organization you work with is considering a state law change, now is the time to reach out to your lawmakers, or those who work in support of the area which is of interest.
