OKPOLICY.ORG
The 60th Oklahoma Legislature is marching toward its constitutional organizational date on Jan. 7, 2025. The organizational day is a formality to officially elect the leadership, make appointments, adopt legislative rules and do the paperwork to begin the first session of the legislature on Feb. 3, 2025.
The elections have been held, new Senators have taken the oath of office, and House members will be sworn in this Wednesday. Legislators will officially begin their new terms on Nov. 20, 2024. Rep. Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, has been elected as the new Speaker by the House Republican caucus, and Sen. Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, has been elected the new President Pro Tempore by the Senate Republican caucus.
Both leaders have made initial decisions on who will serve in the top slots on their leadership teams. Rep. Josh West, R-Grove will be the House Majority Floor Leader while Rep. Trey Caldwell, R-Lawton, will be House Appropriations and Budget Chair and Rep. Mark Lawson, R-Sapulpa, will be the House Majority Leader. In the Senate, Sen. Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville, will be Majority Floor Leader, Sen. Chuck Hall, R-Perry, will be Appropriations Chair, and Sen. John Haste, R-Broken Arrow, will be Appropriations Vice Chair.
The most important leadership decisions left to be made before session are the committee chairs and vice chairs. Everyone with an interest in legislation is anxiously awaiting who will chair the committees that handle the bills in their area of interest.
Committees screen bills that have been filed, consider amendments, and decide by vote which ones will move forward for floor consideration and, if passed, move on to the opposite chamber. Committee chairs control the agenda for their committee meetings, make rulings, and chair the meetings of their committee. Of course, if a bill is never placed on an agenda by the committee chair, it is blocked and cannot move forward.
Chairs have great latitude in what bills get heard and how they are handled during committee meetings. In a true sense, the fate of every measure is in the hands of the chair of the committee to which it is assigned.
Once the list of committee chairs is announced, the committee memberships should soon follow. Generally, a new legislature, after an election with old members having left and new members joining, is the time members have the best opportunity to change committee assignments or move up to a chair of a committee with jurisdiction over matters they are most interested in. New members especially, don’t always get the committee assignments they request so a new legislature gives them a chance to move to a committee they prefer.
It has been rumored the House plans to change its committee structure with fewer committees and more subcommittees. It will be interesting to see how that works out. The legislative process can be fascinating and frustrating, but without it, representative government could not work. It’s the best way that’s been found to bring new ideas forward, refine them, honor multiple points of view and make the public policy and laws we all must live by.
