Category: Bill Watch

Use these tools to decipher the Oklahoma Legislature

What's a "shell bill?" How many steps does it take for a bill to become law? Our 2015 Legislative Primer and "What's That?" glossary can answer these questions and more. [More...]

Upcoming Event: The Legacy of Gov. Henry Bellmon

Oklahoma Policy Institute will honor Governor Henry Bellmon with the 2014 Good Sense/Good Cents Award, followed by a panel discussion on the Bellmon legacy, on Monday August 4th from 1:00 – 3:00 pm at the Lorton Performance Center on the… Read more [More...]

Beware the influence of ALEC in Oklahoma (Guest Post: J.C. Moore)

J.C. Moore is a retired science teacher, a member of the the American Geophysical Union, and co-founder of OKcitizensfirst.org. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has a great influence on our state politics, but many Oklahomans have heard little about… Read more [More...]

Did term limits really change how long Oklahoma legislators serve?

*This post has been updated to correct errors in the original version, noted by * In September 1990, Oklahoma voters, by an overwhelming margin, approved State Question 632 which limited service in the Oklahoma legislature to no more than twelve… Read more [More...]

Introducing our new bill tracking tool

Today we launched a new resource designed to help you keep an eye on what’s happening with specific bills in the Legislature. The Oklahoma Legislation Tracker identifies key pieces of legislation in several categories.  With each bill, we have provided… Read more [More...]

The Legislature returns to work today. Here’s what should be top on the agenda.

Political debates often divide us between Republicans and Democrats, between conservatives, progressives, and libertarians. Winner-take-all political campaigns tend to emphasize those divides. But when we envision what a good future looks like for our state, Oklahomans aren’t that far apart.… Read more [More...]

Legislative Primer newly updated for 2014

Where do bills come from? How many make it into law? Who makes up Governor Fallin’s cabinet? How does the committee process work, and who leads which committee? With the 2014 Oklahoma Legislative session beginning next week, our updated Legislative… Read more [More...]

There they go again: Oklahoma lawmakers accused of “log rolling” HB 2032

When Gov. Fallin signed HB 2032 into law this past legislative session, Oklahoma Attorney Jerry Fent immediately promised that he would challenge the constitutionality of the law. In early June, Mr. Fent made good on his word and filed a… Read more [More...]

Whatever happened to… ?

The 1st session of the 54th Oklahoma Legislature has adjourned, and the deadline is passed for Governor Fallin to sign or veto bills. Out of 2,450 bills introduced since the beginning of session, just 411 bills, or about 17 percent,… Read more [More...]

Evidence mounts for Oklahoma ballot access reform (Guest Blog: Zachary Knight)

Zachary Knight is a former Elector for Gary Johnson, an independent voter, and Chief Editor of OKVoterChoice.org. For nearly four decades, Oklahoma has had some of the most restrictive ballot access laws in the country. In 1974, Democratic legislators passed… Read more [More...]