Preparation continues for session

I hope everyone had a blessed and safe Thanksgiving with loved ones. While it can be a hectic holiday between knocking out the grocery list, getting the house ready for company, and traveling to visit with other friends and family, it is such a special time. Hopefully, you also took some time to relax and reflect on this past year and all the wonderful things in your life.

We haven’t had much of a break at the Capitol, however, as we continue preparing for the upcoming session. On Nov. 16, which was Statehood Day and Oklahoma’s 115th birthday, half the Senate members took their oaths of office, including eight new senators. This is a great group of people with expertise in various areas that will greatly benefit our work in the Legislature; and I’m looking forward to getting to know them better and working with them on legislation. 

This past week, members have been relocating and moving into their new offices. Luckily, I’ll be staying on the second floor. We enjoy this quiet hallway but hope you’ll drop by if you’re ever at the Capitol. 

We also had our caucus retreat and re-elected our President Pro Tempore Greg Treat of Oklahoma City, who will continue serving as the leader of the Senate for the two sessions of the 59th Legislature. We also elected a new caucus chair and vice chair as well as a majority whip. The Democratic Caucus will be announcing their leadership team closer to session. Later this week, the pro tem will announce the committee chairs and vice chairs and we’ll then receive our committee assignments in the next couple of weeks. 

The bill request deadline is also around the corner on Friday, Dec. 9. If we want to file bills for the upcoming session, we have to submit a request for each bill to staff. Because this is the beginning of a new Legislature with different members, none of the bills from the 2022 regular session will carry over to the 2023 session, although you may notice familiar language as members often times will copy it from one measure to another in the hopes of getting it to the governor’s desk. Getting bills through the process is not an easy task, and it can take two or three years for an idea to finally garner enough support to get signed into law.

Again, if you have any questions or concerns that could be addressed through legislation, please let me know so I can review those issues. Also, if you have an idea for a new law, I’d love to hear it. The clock is ticking, and we need to figure out what issues we’re going to focus on this session, so please contact me as soon as possible.

I can be reached at the Capitol by writing to Senator Jessica Garvin, State Capitol, 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd. Room 237, Oklahoma City, OK, 73105, by email at Jessica.Garvin@oksenate.govor you can call (405) 521-5522.