February 13, 2023
During his fifth State of the State address last week, Governor Stitt mentioned changing the CareerTech model. Below is the text from his speech that referenced the topic:
 
“I want to challenge our high schools and CareerTechs to be more responsive to our workforce. Because Oklahoma needs more truck drivers, more electricians, plumbers, and aviation mechanics. I want us to rethink our Career Tech funding model. We created this model over 60 years ago.”
 
“Let’s reimagine our approach. Instead of just building new buildings, let’s invest in high school freshman so they graduate ready to start a career in cybersecurity or diesel mechanics.”
 
“For Oklahoma to keep up with the jobs of tomorrow, we must transform our state economy into an innovation economy. Because in Oklahoma we are not afraid of the future. We lean into it, and we embrace it.”
Stitt sticks to tax cuts, school choice funding in 5th State of the State

Reiterating many of his past priorities, Gov. Kevin Stitt called for greater school choice options, tax rate reductions and increased business recruitment efforts during his fifth State of the State address this afternoon.
 
“Members of the Legislature, we have accumulated a $4 billion savings account, and we’re going into this session with a $1.8 billion surplus,” Stitt said. “With our fiscal discipline, economic growth, and record savings, let’s make a significant statement that Oklahoma is here to stay on the national stage. The time is now. We need to keep the momentum. Let’s cut taxes.”
 
In making his call, Stitt nodded his head and pointed down with one finger, and he received a standing ovation from Republican lawmakers.
 
“In my executive budget, I am proposing to eliminate Oklahoma’s state grocery tax and reduce our personal income tax rate (from 4.75 percent) to 3.99 percent,” Stitt said.
 
Democrats — including Rep. Monroe Nichols (D-Tulsa), who raised his arms in support — stood and applauded Stitt’s call for the grocery sales tax elimination, an idea that their caucuses have supported for years. (Republicans, however, stopped short of eliminating the tax last session, with Senate leadership creating a task force to study a broader package of potential tax-system reforms.)
 
“These cuts will save each family in Oklahoma hundreds of dollars each year,” Stitt said.
 
But House Appropriations and Budget Chairman Kevin Wallace (R-Wellston) did not stand for the grocery tax reduction idea. He did stand for and applaud the income tax reduction proposal, and after the speech he explained his position.
 
“I like the thought of cutting income tax. The Tax Foundation has said all along that giving up grocery tax is not a good idea,” Wallace said. “I wouldn’t be opposed to a moratorium on it, but I’m not a big fan. If you look at balancing the budget — and everybody wants to incentivize work and leaving more money in the taxpayer’s pocket — if you want to be on top of reforming things in our tax code, you’ve got to look at sales tax and even (sales tax on ) services.”
 
Sen. Julia Kirt (D-OKC) expressed frustration with a rush to cut taxes when current state revenues could be used to expand state services.
 
“The governor is talking about fiscal discipline and really presenting just a bunch of back-of-the-napkin math instead of looking at what we need to invest in,” Kirt said. Our budget’s already artificially low. We’re not spending enough on public schools, we are not enough on mental health, and we’re seeing the effects of that.”
 
Avoiding topic, Stitt strikes different tone on tribes
 
With Chickasaw Gov. Bill Anoatubby, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr., Muscogee Nation Principal Chief David Hill and Seminole Nation of Oklahoma Chief Lewis Johnson sitting in the gallery, Stitt briefly acknowledged “tribal leaders,” but he made no reference to the sovereign nations or to the McGirt v. Oklahoma U.S. Supreme Court decision and the jurisdictional questions that he criticized strongly during in his first term.
 
“I liked his speech,” Hill said afterward. “But then again, to be No. 1 — I mean to be the top 10, you’ve got all the tribal leaders trying to work together. We can beat it. We can be top one.”
 
Last year following Stitt’s address, Hill said he agreed it was “time to come to the table” to find agreement on issues involving the state and sovereign tribal nations. This year, Hill said he has a coffee meeting with Stitt scheduled for the coming weeks.
 
Hoskin, meanwhile, said he appreciated that Stitt’s 2023 address did not include the various criticisms about tribal jurisdiction that he had included in 2021 and 2022.
 
“I think we’re always glad when the governor doesn’t, you know, take issue with tribal sovereignty. But you know, we’re part of what’s great about Oklahoma and I think it would be nice to see that reflected in the State of the State address, but I’ll take it as progress that we’re now not in a mode in which it’s combative. I think we can build on that.”
 
Stitt pitches proposals for school choice
 
While also saying Oklahoma needs more skilled laborers and truck drivers, Stitt called for efforts to expand the state’s workforce pools, and he asked the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University to make significant enrollment expansions by 2030.
 
“The state of our state is the strongest it’s ever been,” Stitt said, telling lawmakers that he expects 2023 to be Oklahoma’s “greatest legislative session yet.”
 
Stitt also said he wants to “bring Oklahoma’s education system out of the bottom and into the top 10,” and he referenced five primary education reform initiatives he would like to see:
 
  • Education savings accounts, otherwise called private school vouchers;
  • Performance-based pay raises for teachers;
  • An innovation school fund to spur the creation of new schools, which could potentially include public and private entities;
  • A reading initiative “to get students reading at grade level”;
  • Concurrent enrollment expansion.
 
According to Stitt’s proposed executive budget for Fiscal Year 2024, those efforts would cost a total of $382 million, with $130 million dedicated to the education savings accounts and $100 million dedicated each to the innovation school fund and the reading initiative. Only $50 million is dedicated to teacher pay raises in Stitt’s proposal, significantly less than a leading senator proposed weeks earlier.
 
“Oklahoma governors have been advocating for more parental choice for over 30 years. In 1989, Gov. Henry Bellmon proposed in his state of the state address, and I quote: ‘That parents be given greater flexibility to determine which schools their children will attend. Thus providing access to educational excellence by allowing more parental choice.’ Those are Gov. Bellman’s words.”
 
Stitt said Oklahoma children need better access to quality education options.
 
“Our greatest asset isn’t our oil and gas,” Stitt said. “It’s not our football teams. It’s not the aerospace and defense industry. It’s our kids.”
 
Stitt also referenced a desire to strengthen family dynamics and encourage higher rates of father involvement in their kids’ lives.
 
“Right now, the United States is a world leader in fatherless families. One out of every four kids in America is living without a father in the home,” Stitt said. “And even those with a father are being let down. In the U.S., the average school-age boy only spends about 30 minutes per week in one-on-one conversations with his father. For comparison, the same boy, on average, will spend about 44 hours per week watching television, playing video games and searching the internet.”
 
Stitt, who called for expanded fatherhood programs in Oklahoma communities, introduced his own father in the House gallery. When he did, Stitt’s voice cracked and he slightly bit his lip.
 
“I didn’t think I’d get choked up there, Dad. I love you,” Stitt said. “Thank you, for pouring into my life.”
 
Moments later, however, Stitt proposed a policy initiative that many Republican lawmakers applauded but that many families who have children dealing with gender identity issues find appalling.
 
“We must protect our most vulnerable — our children. After all minors can’t vote, can’t purchase alcohol, can’t purchase cigarettes,” Stitt said. “We shouldn’t allow a minor to get a permanent gender altering surgery in Oklahoma. That’s why I am calling on the Legislature to send me a bill that bans all gender transition surgeries and hormone therapies on minors in the state.”
 
Ahead of Stitt’s speech more than 100 people chanted outside the House chamber “trans lives matter” and other statements in support of transgender individuals.
 
Rep. Forrest Bennett (D-OKC) said after Stitt’s speech that he wished his colleagues would focus on supporting all families instead of singling out a particular group of vulnerable people.
 
“While it is free for the governor and others to use trans kids as a political punching bag, it hurts them,” Bennett said. “If nothing else, lets make sure that mental health care is accessible for everybody because, starting today and for the next four months, I would guess that anybody who cares about anybody that is not like the people who these people think are the right people to serve, they’re going to have a hard time.”
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt’s education agenda: Vouchers, performance-based teacher raises, new schools
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt revealed $382.6 million in education priorities for this legislative session at the State of the State Address Monday, and vouchers are at the top of his wishlist.
 
Stitt’s big ticket ask is $130 million toward the establishment of education savings accounts, also known as vouchers, which would allow public dollars to be used for education expenses, including private school enrollment. The legislature will decide what, if any, of Stitt’s proposal it wants to include in the final budget.
 
“Parents spoke loud and clear at the ballot box last November in support of our vision to create more options for kids,” Stitt said at Monday’s address. “We know not every student learns the same way. Every child deserves a quality education that fits their unique needs.”
 
Sen. Julie Daniels (R-Bartlesville) filed Senate Bill 822, which sets up savings accounts to be used for qualifying expenses as long as the student is not enrolled in a public, charter or magnet school. Her bill allocates nearly $275 million to these accounts.
 
Stitt’s education wishlist also has similar priorities to the proposal recently presented by State Superintendent Walters — with a few alterations. The governor wants to dedicate $100 million toward student reading initiatives, like Walters’ budget. And, similarly, it also includes a performance-based teacher pay raise.
 
But instead of $150 million for teacher merit raises that Walters proposed, Stitt’s list takes that down to $50 million. Both are a far cry from the budget proposal approved by previous Superintendent Joy Hofmeister last year, which included $309 million for an across-the-board $5,000 teacher raise.
 
There are educator teacher pay raise bills, all of which include across-the-board raises:
 
  • Senate Bill 28 by Sen. Dewayne Pemberton (R-Muskogee) and co-authored by Rep. Mark McBride (R-Moore) would raise pay by $2,000 every three years for nine years.
  • Senate Bill 466 by Sen. Kristen Thompson (R-Edmond) would raise special education teacher pay to 10% — up from 5% — above the prevailing wage of non-special education teachers.
  • Senate Bill 482 by Sen. Adam Pugh (R-Edmond) would raise the current minimum teacher salary schedule, adding $3,000 to the current minimum. It then adds $4,000 more for 5-9 years of teaching, $5,000 more for 10-14 years of teaching and $6,000 for at least 15 years of teaching.
  • Senate Bill 723 by Sen. Carri Hicks (D-Oklahoma City) would raise the current minimum salary schedule by $3,000.
  • Senate Bill 903 by Sen. Shane Jett (R-Shawnee) would raise pay by $5,000. However, this bill is contingent on another unspecified bill being passed.
  • House Bill 2412 by Ronny Johns (R- Ada) would give returning school support staff a 6% raise.
  • Senate Bill 40 by Sen. David Bullard (R-Durant) wouldn’t implement performance-based raises immediately, but instead creates a task force to study and make recommendations for a merit pay system.
 
Though there is no guarantee this early in the process of any kind of raises, neighboring states are prioritizing teacher pay. A bill in Texas would give teachers a $15,000 across-the-board raise and support staff a 25% raise. Another in Arkansas would bump starting pay up from $36,000 to $50,000 for teachers and from $11/hr to $15/hr for support staff by June 2024 — and in the meantime, give teachers an additional, immediate $10,000 raise.
 
One other teacher-focused issue made the governor’s proposal: increasing the state’s Teacher Retirement System by $16.8 million. Stitt said this is due to an increased estimate in revenue sources.
 
Also included in Stitt’s educational wishlist is a $100 million “Innovative School Fund,” which would “create new schools focused on innovation, unlocking student potential and address workforce pipeline needs across the state.” Stitt referenced the Norman Aviation Academy as an example of what those programs could look like.
 
“Let’s fund students, not systems,” Stitt said.
 
Lastly, Stitt wants half a million dollars to go toward expanding concurrent enrollment to high school freshmen and sophomores.
 
As for colleges and universities, Stitt’s proposal would give an additional half-million dollars (from $873,405,811 to $873,905,811) to the State Regents for Higher Education for allocation. In his address, he highlighted familiar Diversity, Equity and Inclusion program (DEI) talking points also favored by Walters.
 
“We expect our tuition to pay for their education, not their indoctrination,” Stitt said. “I want our universities to have less DEI officers and more career placement counselors.”
 
Walters, who also serves in Stitt’s cabinet as Secretary of Education, recently called for a 10-year review from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education of its spending history and current materials used for DEI programs.
 
The review found the $10.2 million — of which the state contributed $3.7 million — budgeted for this fiscal year’s DEI programs amounts to less than a third of one percent of all higher education spending, and about a tenth of one percent of state expenditures on higher education.
 
It also characterized Oklahoma’s DEI programs: in addition to issues around race and gender identity — also serve veterans, low-income students, people with disabilities, single mothers, international students and refugees, and students aging out of the foster care system.
 
The governor’s full budget proposal can be found here.
House Speaker Charles McCall says lawmakers are still out on Oklahoma school vouchers
The viability of school voucher legislation appears increasingly grim in the Oklahoma Legislature, despite calls from the governor to pass it.
 
House Speaker Charles McCall, who opposed a similar bill that failed in 2022, said “everybody sees it still the same way this year” in his chamber.
 
“With that particular (voucher) bill last year, no, I don’t think you’re going to see that come out of the House,” McCall, R-Atoka, said while speaking with reporters Thursday. “The House looks at things in terms of will a piece of legislation do something for a student in all parts of the state.”
 
Stitt proposes school voucher program.Will rural opposition sink it again?
 
Two bills have been filed in the state Senate that would allow families to access public tax dollars to cover private-school and homeschool costs.
 
Last session, legislation that would have paid $128.5 million to send public school students to private schools died in a Senate floor vote. The state could have spent between $3,500 and $17,000 per student, depending on the child’s age and special needs, according to a fiscal impact study of the bill.
 
Gov. Kevin Stitt said Oklahoma should revive the idea by spending $130 million on education savings accounts for students. Each participating student would be able to tap into the public tax dollars in their account “for eligible education expenses,” according to the governor’s state budget proposal.
 
“Other states like Iowa and Virginia and Florida and New Hampshire have already figured it out,” Stitt said in his State of the State speech on Monday. “Providing more options for students leads to better outcomes. Oklahoma cannot afford to be left behind.”
 
Gov. Kevin Stitt acknowledges someone in the gallery Monday during the start of the Legislature and his State of the State speech to the joint session.
A bill from Sen. Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville, would create a voucher program open to any school-age student in Oklahoma. The state would take the same amount of funding it would have spent for a student to attend a public school and deposit it into an education savings account with the state treasurer’s office.
 
Sen. Shane Jett, R-Shawnee, filed similar legislation offering vouchers to students living in counties with 10,000 people or more. Children living in smaller-population counties could use a voucher only if they attend a “trigger district” that tolerates bathroom use by gender identity, animal rights activism, social-emotional learning, disparagement of the oil and gas industry, and other topics.
 
Even if last year’s voucher bill had passed, McCall said his chamber wouldn’t have given the bill a hearing — a stance that prompted attack ads from a Washington, D.C., group against him in his southeastern Oklahoma district.
 
The speaker said vouchers present a “geographical issue” because rural students would have few opportunities to use them. Most private schools in the state exist in the metropolitan areas of Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
 
“The House is for policy for all students,” McCall said on Thursday. “I don’t think that bill or that mechanism is going to be discussed because there was no interest last year.”
 
The Legislature’s minority leaders, Rep. Cyndi Munson and Sen. Kay Floyd, said House and Senate Democrats staunchly oppose voucher policies.
 
Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat, the author of last year’s voucher bill, chose not to refile it this session.
 
Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat is pictured Monday during the start of the Legislature and Gov. Kevin Stitt’s State of the State speech to the joint session.
Treat, R-Edmond, said he’s still a “huge believer” in improving public schools by fostering more competition for them but is unaware how many senators would support it.
 
“I’m wanting to see if we can have ideas originate throughout the legislative process to get there,” Treat said. “I’m not dead set that that’s the only solution.
 
“I hope we can come to an area where we give parents more choice and we also bolster the traditional public school.”
McCortney continues two-a-day Senate floor sessions 
Senate Majority Floor Leader Greg McCortney plans to lead the Senate through two-a-day floor sessions for a second year.
 
“I think the changes we made last year were probably more successful than I thought they would be for the first time we tried them,” McCortney, R-Ada, said in a recent interview.
 
Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat named McCortney majority floor leader in October 2021, some months after then-Majority Floor Leader Kim David announced her plans to run for a seat on the Corporation Commission. McCortney introduced the two daily floor sessions during the 2022 regular session.
 
“I never felt like we had people fighting against it,” McCortney said. “I think as much as we talked about the changes before session last year, it wasn't really until we started living it that, I think for all of us, it was a huge shock to in the way we normally do business. And I mean, I'm the guy who came up with the plan. I can remember the middle of week two, it was like, “Oh, holy cow.’”
 
McCortney's goal, which he discussed prior to the 2022 session, is to reduce the marathon floor sessions sometimes experienced near the end of the floor deadline period by having bills considered by the full Senate earlier in the process.
 
McCortney originally had planned for the Senate meeting on the floor for approximately 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the afternoon beginning Tuesday. He said Monday on Twitter, “After meeting with my team, we decided that there is no good reason to gavel in and out twice a day on week one, so we will start two-a-days next week.”
 
McCortney outlined the floor session schedule this way for the first four weeks: “Week two: we'll spend an hour (on the floor) in the morning and an hour in the afternoon. Week three: it's an hour and a half. Week four: it's two hours. And so if we follow that schedule in week four, that really leaves about 45 minutes for committees to meet.”
McCortney said he has made his plan and expectations known to Senate committee chairs. “The longest committee meetings of the year should happen in week one, which it was always week four before,” McCortney said. “The committee chairs understand that.”
 
Most Senate committees have posted agendas for meetings during the first full week of the session. Committees that meet Monday – Agriculture and Rural Affairs; Tourism and Wildlife; Finance; and Business and Commerce – have scheduled meetings for Wednesday when Senate Appropriations subcommittees normally would meet.
McCortney said there may have been some lobbyists who were caught flatfooted by the change to more bills being heard earlier in committee and the two-a-day floor sessions in 2022. 
 
“They thought they had a couple of weeks to kill these bills that were all of a sudden being heard in committee. So, I believe that everyone will be ready this year,” McCortney said.
Gross Receipts to the Treasury High 12 Month High Point
Gross Receipts to the Treasury recorded a new high over the past twelve months, yet rising interest rates are a cause for concern regarding future economic growth, State Treasurer Todd Russ announced Wednesday.
 
Twelve-month gross receipts through January are $17.48 billion, up by $1.98 billion or 12.8 percent from the prior twelve months. For the month, total collections of $1.59 billion are up by $40.5 million, or only 2.7 percent compared to last January.
 
“The Gross Receipts report shows noteworthy improvement,” said Treasurer Russ. “Even so, higher interest rates are causing a slowdown in housing demand and other economic activity.”
 
Over the past year, all major revenue streams reflected growth. Sales and use tax collections exceeded the rate of inflation of 6.5 percent, growing at 8.6 percent. Income tax receipts increased by 13.1 percent.
 
The monthly Oklahoma Business Conditions Index rose slightly in January. This index, produced by Creighton University, increased from 40.2 in December to 43.3 depicting some economic improvement. However, an index number under 50 indicates a forecast for potential contraction during the next three to six months.
 
Other indicators
As measured by the Consumer Price Index, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports the annual inflation rate at 6.5 percent in December. The energy component of the index at 7.3 percent over the year is expected to remain high, along with the food index which stands at 10.4 percent.
 
Oklahoma’s employment numbers continue to exhibit strength, despite changes in workforce trends. The Oklahoma unemployment rate in December stayed at 3.4 percent, as reported by the BLS. This rate has not changed since September. The U.S. jobless rate was 3.5 percent in December, down by one-tenth of a percentage point from November.
 
According to Federal Reserve Economic Data from 2022, average mortgage rates doubled from 3.5 percent to 7 percent during the beginning of last year through October. Thereafter, 30-year mortgage rates have declined to approximately 6 percent, but the relatively high rates coupled with higher housing prices have caused a drop in housing demand.
 
January collections
January 2023 collections compared to gross receipts from January 2022 show:
  • Total monthly gross collections are $1.55 billion, up by $40.5 million, or 2.7 percent.
  • Gross income tax collections, a combination of individual and corporate income taxes, generated $550.4 million, down by $3.1 million, or 0.6 percent.
  • Individual income tax collections are $482.2 million, an increase of $35.9 million, or 8.0 percent.
  • Corporate collections are $68.2 million, down by $38.9 million, or 36.4 percent.
  • Combined sales and use tax collections, including remittances on behalf of cities and counties, total $629.4 million – up by $32.3 million – or 5.4 percent.
  • Sales tax collections total $515.2 million, an increase of $21.9 million, or 4.4 percent.
  • Use tax receipts, collected on out-of-state purchases including internet sales, generated $114.2 million, an increase of $10.3 million, or 9.9 percent.
  • Gross production taxes on oil and natural gas total $153.1 million, an increase of $9.6 million, or 6.7 percent.
  • Motor vehicle taxes produced $74.1 million, up by $5.4 million, or 7.8 percent.
  • Other collections composed of some 60 different sources produced $141.8 million – down by $3.7 million, or 2.5 percent.
 
Twelve-month collections
Combined gross receipts for the past 12 months compared to the prior period show:
Gross revenue totals $17.48 billion. That is $1.98 billion, or 12.8 percent, above collections from the previous 12 months.
  • Gross income taxes generated $6.0 billion, an increase of $700.5 million, or 13.1 percent.
  • Individual income tax collections total $5.0 billion, up by $587.3 million, or 13.2 percent.
  • Corporate collections are $1.0 billion, an increase of $113.2 million, or 12.8 percent.
  • Combined sales and use taxes generated $6.9 billion, an increase of $544.3 million, or 8.6 percent.
  • Gross sales tax receipts total $5.8 billion, up by $428.5 million, or 7.9 percent.
  • Use tax collections generated $1.0 billion, an increase of $115.8 million, or 12.3 percent.
  • Oil and gas gross production tax collections generated almost $2.0 billion, up by $747.2 million, or 59.9 percent.
  • Motor vehicle collections total $875.7 million, an increase of $3.0 million, or 0.3 percent.
  • Other sources generated $1.7 billion, down by $13.5 million, or 0.8 percent.
Senate Education looks at potential changes to NIL state statute
The first bill to come before the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday morning was likely the most controversial measure of the morning.
 
SB0840, by Sen. Greg McCortney, R-Ada, modifies provisions in the Student Athlete Name, Image and Likeness Rights Act, would allow third-party organizations to coordinate with student athletes, connecting them with sponsors and potentially allow boosters and donors to make direct donations to athletes through a middle-man organization not tied to the university.
 
Multiple members of the committee bemoaned the Supreme Court case protecting the rights of student athletes to receive compensation, even questioning whether they should still be called student athletes.
 
In his debate for the bill, Chair Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, said the change to allow student athletes to receive compensation outside of their scholarship devalues their education.
Sen. Dave Rader, R-Tulsa, had the clearest and most nuanced stance against the measure. In his questions for McCortney and a representative from University of Oklahoma, Rader, said the legal case around NIL is framed around the right for student athletes to sell their autographs and game shirts. 
 
He said compliance officers used to sit outside student locker rooms watching athletes taking time after games and practices to make sure none was slipped money from appreciative fans. Now, Rader said there are two forms of NIL agreements.
 
One, which is regulated by the NCAA, allows a student to make an agreement with a local car dealership or another local business.
 
SB0840 would allow a different form of NIL agreements, bringing in third parties. A representative from the University of Oklahoma said this will allow athletes to be connected to potential sponsors without going out into the community looking for options, which would help athletes get the best opportunities available.
 
Rader questioned whether this third-party organization would be part of recruiting, and how involved family members and boosters could be in this process.
 
He also asked why a state legislature should get involved in an agreement between collegiate athletic departments. Rader compared the NCAA to a homeowners association, with members like OU and Oklahoma State University generally agreeing with the rules put in place, but also wanting to change certain rules they didn’t like.
 
During his debate against the bill, Rader said smaller colleges and universities do not want these third-party organizations to be involved in NIL agreements because while larger universities will be able to maintain for-profit and non-profit organizations, smaller NCAA members will not. And because there are more smaller programs than larger programs in the NCAA, they are still against the rules for NCAA members.
 
But the NCAA has said they will not stand in the way if states put forth legislation explicitly allowing these organizations to exist.
 
“This should be an NCAA issue,” Rader said.
 
The former Tulsa University coach voted against the bill, but he told his fellow committee members they should not vote for the measure and sour their relationships over the bill. He also said it likely is what is best for the athletes who attend larger institutions, but it will harm smaller programs.
 
The bill passed 12-1.
 
The committee meeting was adjourned in time to allow members to get lunch before Tuesday afternoon’s floor session, and five bills were laid over:
  • SB0362, by Pugh, exempts any person who has obtained a criminal history record check for teacher certification or for employment with a school in the immediately preceding five years from being required to have a national criminal history record check if the teacher produces a copy of a the national criminal history record check. It also requires any person who has been employed as a full-time teacher by a school district in Oklahoma who applies for employment as a full-time teacher in another school district to provide a letter from the school district in which the teacher was employed stating the teacher left in good standing. It removes other exemptions from obtaining new criminal history record check.
  • SB0364, by Pugh, entitles a full-time employee of a public school district who has been employed by the school district for at least one year and has worked at least 1,250 hours during the preceding 12-month period to 12 weeks of paid maternity leave following the birth of the employee's child. The bill requires the 12 weeks of paid maternity leave to be used in the 12 months following the birth of the school district employee's child and to expire at the end of the 12-month period. The bill requires the paid maternity leave be in addition to and not in place of sick leave due to pregnancy, as provided for in state statute. It requires a school district employee who takes maternity leave not be deprived of any compensation or other benefits to which the employee is otherwise entitled. The bill requires the legislature appropriate each fiscal year adequate funding to the State Board of Education for the purpose of providing paid maternity leave to eligible school district employees. It requires the State Board of Education to allocate an amount to fully fund paid maternity leave from the funds appropriated to it for the support of public school activities if the Legislature does not appropriate adequate funding specifically for the purpose of providing paid maternity leave to school district employees. It permits the State Board of Education to promulgate necessary rules.
  • SB0473, by Sen. Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, allows school employees on leave to retain insurance coverage.
  • SB0522, by Pugh, requires a mentor teacher to provide guidance, support, coaching, and assistance to a teacher in his or her first year of teaching at an employing school district, regardless of the length of time the teacher has been certified.
  • SB0525, by Pugh, requires a certified teacher who, at the request of the employing school district, takes and passes a subject area competency examination to earn certification and teach an additional subject in the school district to be reimbursed by the school district. It clarifies the reimbursement will be an amount equal to the cost of the subject area competency examination.
Some Oklahoma schools don’t let students wear tribal regalia. Lawmakers could end that
Some school districts in Oklahoma have stopped students from wearing eagle feathers on their graduation caps.
When Muskogee High School refused to grant a Native American student her diploma because she attached an eagle feather to her graduation cap, the decision sparked outrage across the U.S. 
 
Yet 27 years later, some Oklahoma schools still try to stop Native students from wearing items of religious and cultural significance on graduation day. Schools in Broken Arrow, Caney Valley, Latta, Moore, Norman and Vian have all faced pushback since 2015 from Native students and parents.
 
A bill that would prevent Oklahoma schools from banning tribal regalia gained initial approval Tuesday from the Senate Education committee, the first step before it can advance to a full vote on the Senate floor. But the proposal has met past resistance. Similar bills failed in 2020 and 2021.
 
“I want to be optimistic that we can get this done and move it along,” said the bill’s sponsor, Sen. John Michael Montgomery, R-Lawton.
 
Several other Western states with large Native American populations — including South Dakota, Montana, Utah, California, Oregon and Washington — already have adopted their own versions of the law. Teachers and tribal leaders hope this will be Oklahoma’s year. More than 156,000 Native children are enrolled in public schools statewide.
 
“Graduation is an honor,” said Edwina Butler-Wolfe, who directs education programs for the Sac and Fox Nation in Stroud. “Sometimes these students are the only ones in their family that are going to graduate. If they want to wear regalia, they earned it. We don’t know how difficult it was from day to day, week to week for the student to even come to class.”
 
The controversy at Muskogee High School placed Oklahoma at the center of the debate in 1996. Danaj Battese Trudell said at the time she wore the eagle feather as a form of prayer. Many Native American cultures consider eagle feathers sacred. Federal law prohibits the possession of eagle feathers but makes exceptions for religious uses by tribal citizens.
 
Battese Trudell said the school was violating her civil rights by discipling her for wearing one. Her story circulated nationwide and landed her on “The Montel Williams Show.” School officials eventually relented.
 
Four years later, lawmakers affirmed students’ rights in the Oklahoma Religious Freedom Act, which bars schools and other public agencies from infringing on the exercise of religion, with few exceptions.
 
But students and their families still encounter roadblocks at a few school districts every year, said Lucyann Harjo, a Navajo Nation citizen who chairs the Oklahoma Advisory Council on Indian Education. She also is an Native American education coordinator for Norman Public Schools.
 
When questions come up, Harjo tells students, parents and administrators that wearing eagle feathers and other forms of religious expression already are protected by law.
 
But she believes a standalone law would help school districts clearly understand students’ rights to wear tribal regalia and avoid costly court disputes that schools usually lose.
 
“It seems like we have this bill proposed almost annually, because we are still having families having difficulties,” Harjo said. “They have to fight for the right to do so.”
 
The most recent case to gain widespread attention happened in 2022, when a Otoe-Missouria and Osage student said she was told she could not wear an eagle feather at her Broken Arrow graduation ceremony.
 
A similar dispute in Vian prompted the Cherokee Nation to change its laws in 2019 so it could withhold funding from schools that don’t allow students to wear tribal regalia at important events.
 
At the same time, then-Attorney General Mike Hunter sent a letter to schools about religious rights covered by law, such as wearing eagle feathers.
 
Then-state schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister also later wrote to schools, encouraging districts to examine their graduation dress codes policies and consult with tribal nations over the policies.
 
Both Hunter and Hofmeister have since left office.
 
Montgomery said past proposals to write protections for tribal regalia into state law stalled partly over concerns that they could open the door to other dress code exceptions.
 
He described Senate Bill 429 as targeted and specific. It would allow public school students to wear tribal regalia, which it defines as eagle feathers and plumes, beaded caps, stoles and other culturally significant garments and jewelry.
 
When the Senate Education committee considered the bill, it passed without any no votes or vocal objections.
 
“It’s an important thing for students to be able to represent their tribes,” Montgomery said.
Oklahoma Senate committee moves forward bills to restrict transgender transition
An Oklahoma Senate committee moved forward two bills Wednesday aimed at restricting transgender transition, one of them requested by Gov. Kevin Stitt.
 
Senate Bill 613, introduced by Sen. Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville, would allow the state to immediately revoke the license of a doctor, nurse practitioner or advanced practice registered nurse who offered gender transition services to minors under the age of 18.
 
Her bill defines gender transition services as altering physical or anatomical features that are “typical” for a person’s biological sex, using puberty-blocking drugs, hormones or gender reassignment surgery.
 
“So this is true even if the parents have consulted with a physician and with the consulting physician made the determination this is what’s best for the child?” asked Senate Democratic Leader Kay Floyd, D-Oklahoma City. “So this Legislature knows better than doctors and parents?”
 
State Sen. David Bullard listens to a question on a bill that would ban public funds from being used for gender transition services. His bill was approved by the Senate Rules Committee on Wednesday.
Daniels replied that the bill reflects what she believes is the best policy for the state to protect children.
 
“We’re taking this away because we believe this is in the best interest of the child. We are allowing for other forms of treatment, and we certainly hope that parents will remain engaged and use those forms of treatment that are available, and perhaps their child will work through these psychological issues,” Daniels said.
 
While it would prohibit procedures involving surgery or medication, Daniels’ bill allows for behavioral and mental health counseling, medication to treat depression and anxiety, drugs to treat delayed or early puberty, treatment of congenital issues and injury.
 
“The simple fact is that absolute health care bans are bad for Oklahoma. They cost us business, they cost us medical talent, and worst of all, they cost us lives,” Floyd said after the vote. “The Oklahoma Legislature does not know better than parents, patients and doctors. Oklahomans have a right to the medical care they need.”
 
In his State of the State message on Monday, Stitt called on lawmakers to send him a bill that closely matches Daniels’ proposed legislation. He elaborated on his position during a podcast interview this week.
 
“This is a very, very small minority of folks,” Stitt said. “We’re not against any one person, and we believe in freedoms and personal responsibilities, but we have a duty to protect young people.”
 
As the first day of session kicked off Monday, a large crowd of transgender Oklahomans and their allies gathered inside the Capitol to protest the state’s push to limit their health care options.
 
Contrary to false statements made on social media comparing the protest to the violent Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and attempt to take control of the U.S. Capitol, the protest in Oklahoma City was peaceful and no more disruptive than other demonstrations that frequently happen in and around the building.
 
As Daniels closed debate on her bill, she appeared to direct remarks at dozens of trans rights supporters who were seated in the committee room.
 
“On Monday there were people in the building and they were yelling ‘trans lives matter.’ They absolutely do,” said Daniels. “These are troubling issues for individuals to deal with. This is not a rejection of anyone who is dealing with these issues in their lives. This is certainly not a rejection of those who decide, once they reach the age of 18, to pursue additional treatment to help them find themselves in a better place.”
 
The Senate Rules Committee also moved forward a second bill that would significantly restrict access to transgender health care by blocking public funds to any hospital, entity or individual who provides those services, regardless of the patient’s age.
 
Senate Bill 129 also prohibits transgender medical care at hospitals that indirectly receive public funds. The bill’s author, state Sen. David Bullard, R-Durant, said the prohibition would include hospitals on land that is owned by a state or local government.
 
If the bill becomes law, only privately funded medical professionals and hospitals would be allowed to offer gender reassignment services.
 
“The point is the taxpayer dollars should not go to something that they disagree with,” Bullard said.
 
Although passed by the Senate Rules Committee on Wednesday, Bullard’s bill will receive a second committee hearing because of its budget implications.
 
The original version of his bill would have banned gender-affirming care for anyone under the age of 26, but that language was replaced before the meeting convened.
 
Freedom Oklahoma, a nonprofit organization that advocates on behalf of the state’s LGBT population, said it’s difficult to anticipate the full effect of Bullard’s proposal.
 
“The bill as written proposes putting all facilities and providers in a situation where they would have to choose between accepting any public funding or providing best practice medical care to their transgender patients of any/all ages,” said Freedom Oklahoma Executive Director Nicole McAfee. “If the bill moves forward with this framework, it threatens not just health care for transgender Oklahomans, but our broader health care infrastructure try to work out the implications of this policy.”
Senate panel advances bill requiring $750 filing fee for initiative petition
Filing an initiative petition could cost $750 under a bill passed by a Senate panel on Tuesday.
 
Senate Bill 518, by Sen. Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville, also would increase the protest period to 20 days from 10 days.
 
The bill passed 8-3 along party lines in the Senate Judiciary Committee, with Democrats voting against it.
 
Daniels said the measure is needed to ensure the greatest confidence in the process and to allow the Secretary of State’s Office to recoup some of the costs associated with it.
 
Senate Minority Leader Kay Floyd, D-Oklahoma City, said the changes would make the process more costly and difficult.
 
The panel also passed Senate Bill 290, by Sen. Warren Hamilton, R-McCurtain, which would increase the pay of poll workers.
 
The pay for polling place clerks and judges would rise to $200 an election from $100, while the pay for inspectors would rise to $225 from $110, Hamilton said.
 
Hamilton said these would be much-needed and deserved pay raises for great Americans who staff polling locations.
 
The state has had a difficult time recruiting new election workers.
 
“It would help encourage more people to be poll workers,” said State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax.
 
The panel also passed Senate Bill 713, by Sen. Carri Hicks, D-Oklahoma City, which would increase jury duty pay to $20 a day from $10.
CTE Priority Measures
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.

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

2022 Legislative Agenda

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.
LEGISLATIVE DEADLINES
February 2023
Feb. 17: House Deadline for Shell Bill Substantive Language (House Bills & House Joint Resolutions) 
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.)