Nearly 800 bills to be considered in House and Senate

The time is finally here – session will kick off next Monday, Feb. 7. The House and Senate will hold a joint session in the House chambers where Gov. Stitt will present his fourth State of the State Address. This will include an overview of highlights from the 2021 session, and what policies and budgetary actions he’d like to see the Legislature take this session. His speech will be streamed live on the House website at www.okhouse.gov, by OETA and other major news stations, starting at 12:30.

This year, just short of 800 bills were filed in the Senate along with 1,500 House measures. Being the second session of the 58th Legislature, we also have nearly 800 Senate bills and just over 1,700 House bills that carried over from last session available for further consideration.

This session, I’ve filed seven bills, and I’d like to briefly mention some of them. I’ll go more in-depth about them in the coming weeks as they work their way through the legislative process.

SB 1577 would allow the Oklahoma Health Care Authority to be the primary agency responsible for regulating providers of Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) services. This would prohibit the State Department of Health from regulating PACE services under the Adult Day Care Act, the Home Care Act or any other act that governs a different type of facility or provider; however, the department will perform inspections and other necessary oversight of such facilities.

SB 1739 would allow a business that collects and remits sales and use tax to deduct and keep 2% of the tax collected to compensate the business for maintaining records, filing reports, and collecting and remitting the tax. This would not exceed $3,300 for each tax. 

Under current law, when county assessors increase the valuation of property, they are required to notify the taxpayer in writing of the amount of increase in the valuation.  SB 1667 would require the assessor to send these notices to disabled veterans who are exempt from certain property taxes pursuant to the Oklahoma Constitution. This allows exempt veterans to know when their property’s valuation increases.

Another measure I’ve filed to help veterans and their families is SB 1670. Currently, surviving spouses of disabled veterans are allowed to receive a sales tax exemption for up to $1,000 of purchases. This bill would also allow the surviving spouse of a military member who has died in the line of duty to receive the same exemption.

Under SB 1576, any state employee who is a U.S. veteran with a disability recognized by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs would be allowed to use military leave for any illness resulting from their service-connected disability.

In closing, this past Wednesday, my best friend and fellow Waurika alumni, Nick Richardson, and I had the special opportunity to speak to Waurika High School students for the I CAN project. Nick is the Director of New Business Development for the Texas Rangers baseball team. The career fair was held at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds and hosted by the Waurika WISH task force to inspire hope in the community and help our young Eagles soar to extraordinary heights. Students heard presentations from alumni on how they accomplished or are accomplishing their goals. It was an absolute honor to stand alongside Nick, sharing our success stories together, in hopes of inspiring future Waurika graduates.  

Thank you again for the privilege of serving our district and the State of Oklahoma in the Senate. If I can be of any assistance, you can reach me at (405) 521-5563 or Chris.Kidd@oksenate.gov.