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Tax cuts and budget talks dominated this year’s regular session.

 

As Gov. Kevin Stitt’s public, bicameral “2024 Budget Summit” bled into the final week of the regular legislative session, the governor relented on his push for an income tax cut to be included in a joint budget resolution, speeding up the budget process.

 

Stitt initially pushed for a quarter-percent cut to the state income tax, then advocated for a flat rate and a “pathway to zero.” After weeks without an agreement, Stitt said he’d drop the tax cut for the time being if lawmakers agreed to four concessions:

1. The research and eventual implementation of a business court system in Oklahoma.

2. A 7% salary increase for district court judges.

3. $20 million added to Stitt’s Quick Action Closing Fund, which is intended to convince companies to move to Oklahoma with financial incentives.

4. Continued appropriations for the State-Tribal Litigation Fund.

The agreed-upon FY25 budget, which was finally passed in the last week of the session, totaled $12.47 billion.

 

State savings currently total $3.23 billion:

1. Oklahoma Constitutional Reserve Fund, “Rainy Day Fund”: $1.296 billion (15% of the preceding year’s General Revenue Certification).

2. Oklahoma Revenue Stabilization Fund, designed to grow in years when collections from the state’s most volatile revenue sources are coming in above recent averages: $470 million.

3. Rate Preservation Fund: $480 million.

4. Prior Year Cash & Authorized: $980 million.

The governor has until midnight tonight to sign the remaining bills on his desk into law. The following is a list of bills related to OneVoice priorities and/or issues discussed in task forces:

 

Tourism & Quality of Life

SB1155: Creates a Museum of Popular Culture Supplemental Revolving Fund under the Historical Society for funding improvements and construction for the Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture and transfers certain funds from FY24 into it. This bill was sent to the governor.

 

SB1125: Makes a $1.5 million appropriation for the revolving fund for the Civil Rights Trail. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

HB3964: Creates the Filmed in OK Live Studio Audience Episodic TV Program Revolving Fund for the Tax Commission to expend for certain rebates authorized by the Dept. of Commerce. Did not receive vote on Senate floor.

 

HB1548: Provides for a graduated increase from $5m to $7.5m in the maximum apportionment of sales tax directed to the Tourism Promotion Revolving Fund by FY-2026. Stalled because of Department of Tourism challenges.

 

HB3959: Provides for quarterly payments equaling 5% of payroll, up to $10m per year, for professional sports teams belonging to the MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL or Major League Soccer. This bill was signed by the governor.

Workforce & Talent Strategies

HB4147: Permits employers to claim a 30% tax credit for expenses related to employee childcare up to $30,000 per year per employer. Died in General Conference Committee on Appropriations.

 

HB3278: Modifies requirements for high school graduation, giving students more flexibility to choose courses that align with their career goals; removes fine arts and world language requirements. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

SB1125: Appropriates $1m to fund the Oklahoma Workforce Commission and unlocks $4m of ARPA funding. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

SB1125: Boosts funding for K-12 classrooms, college facilities and CareerTech programs by $25m in FY2025 to $5.6b. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

SB1125: Appropriates $8.5m to the Inspire to Teach Scholarship fund. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

HB3597: Removes certain responsibilities over the Governor's Council for Workforce and Economic Development from the Department of Commerce and charges the Employment Security Commission with developing the Work-Based Learning Program. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

HB3792: Creates the Oklahoma Access and Achievement Act, which expands Oklahoma Promise to set up scholarships for Oklahomans to attend qualified post-secondary programs designed to support students with intellectual disabilities. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

SB11: Permits persons incarcerated in state, federal and private correctional facilities who are 5 years or fewer from being released to receive state tuition aid grants for certain higher education programs. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

SB1193: Appropriates $636,802 of the unappropriated Workforce Coordination Revolving Fund toward administrative costs of the Oklahoma Workforce Commission. This bill was sent to the governor.

 

SB1328: Expands OHLAP to widen aid access for students who have completed core curriculum to go to CareerTech programs. This bill was sent to the governor.

 

HB3595: Charges the Employment Security Commission with making an online jobs center, requires the Commission to take measures to verify applicant eligibility and requires applicants apply for a certain number of jobs per week to be eligible for benefits. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

HB2917: Adjusts the calculations for weighted daily average membership of charter schools. This bill was sent to the governor.

Health & Human Services

HB1345: Permits the Board of Examiners of Psychologists to enter into and implement agreements with other jurisdictions for the issuance of a license by reciprocity if such jurisdictions have substantially similar requirements. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

HB1696: Expands the Medical Loan Repayment Program to provide assistance to certified nurse practitioners, physician assistants and general surgeons. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

HB3449: Establishes a pathway to fund a pilot program designed to expand opportunities to invest in Oklahoma's mental health workforce. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

HB3095: Preempts any regulations of residential tenancies and the landlord-tenant relationship on behalf of the state, prohibiting local ordinances and provides tenant protections against retaliation. Not heard in Senate Judiciary Committee.

 

HB2109: Prohibits landlords from engaging in retaliation against tenants for complaints or notice for justified corrective action and enhances certain legal remedies available to tenants. Carried over from previous session, not heard.

 

SB1126: Authorizes the Board of Regents for the University of Oklahoma to establish a program for Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists within its College of Nursing. This bill was sent to the governor.

Economic Development

HB3252: Modifies the mission of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, moving certain responsibilities to Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

SB1447: Creates the Division on Economic Development, Growth and Expansion, known as EDGE, to oversee the state's economic development efforts and the Community Outreach and Revitalization Enterprise, focusing on the long-term development of local communities to increase competitiveness and enhance economic opportunities. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

HB1955 and SB1283: Eliminates the state portion of sales tax on certain food items. Both bills were signed by the governor.

 

SB1401: Adjusts qualifying standards and limits on certain infrastructure expenditure tax credits and allows unused credits to be assigned to additional projects even within the same tax year. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

SB1125: Appropriates $20m to the Governor’s Quick Action Closing Fund. This bill was signed by the governor.

Energy & Natural Resources

SB1424: Prohibits poultry farmers from being sued for ground and water pollution if they follow a nutrient management plan approved by the state Department of Agriculture. Also boosts the fine for pollution from $200 a day up to $10,000 a day. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

SB1505: Puts $50m into a rebate program for methane-reduction equipment upgrades, allowing companies to claim up to 25% of the costs to retrofit oil and gas equipment covered under new federal green gas emission rules. This bill was signed by the governor.

Transportation, Infrastructure & Aerospace

HB2890: Funds $50m in state monies toward the Arkansas River levees, matching a $137m federal commitment. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

SB1429: Redesignates the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System Infrastructure Revolving Fund to the Oklahoma Ports Infrastructure Revolving Fund and significantly expands its scope and purpose. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

HB3672: Establishes standards for vertiports and vertical take-off and landing aircraft within statutes governing aircraft and airports. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

SJR16: Creates a process for state questions to create public infrastructure districts, which may levy a special assessment of up to 10 mills on properties benefiting from improvement projects. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

SB1393: Creates the Long-Term Aerospace and Aeronautics Infrastructure Sustainability Revolving Fund for capital projects by the Dept. of Aerospace and Aeronautics. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

SB1490: Allows some aerospace sector employees to claim a tax credit for certain expenditures for up to five years even if the tax years are nonconsecutive. Died in Conference Committee.

 

HB4072: Adjusts standards around certain aerospace industry tax credits to account for employees who change employers while benefitting from the credit. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

HB2915: Authorizes the Capital Improvement Authority to issue bonds and seek federal loans under the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act for certain highway and bridge improvement projects. This bill was sent to the governor.

 

SB1125: Appropriates $16.2m for improvements and upgrades to Oklahoma ports. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

SB1125: Appropriates $41m to the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission for airport economic development projects. This bill was signed by the governor.

General Government & Legal Reform

HB1030: Creates the Computer Data Privacy Act, which provides standards and disclosure requirements relating to consumer data privacy and autonomy. Died in Senate Rules Committee.

 

HB1629: Allows persons convicted of a felony to be eligible to register to vote once their sentence has been discharged, received a commutation due to a crime being reclassified or been granted a pardon. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

HB1349: Creates the Medical Marijuana Authority Executive Advisory Council to be the rulemaking body for the Medical Marijuana Authority, details composition and meeting requirements. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

HB2052: Requires any multistate voter list maintenance organization to certify to the Secretary of the Election Board compliance with certain regulations before the Secretary can join, provides procedures for withdrawal from organizations. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

HB3156: Prohibits the use of ranked choice voting, proportional ranked voting, preferential voting and instant runoff voting in state elections. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

HB3511: Modifies standards for special elections to place the first election which is required into the first available timeslot, allows elected officers to immediately take over a seat after the election is declared and speeds up absentee ballots. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

HB3937: Requires public bodies to publish notices of meeting and agendas for public meetings at least twenty-four hours before the meeting both physically and online. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

SB473: Creates a task force to explore the creation of business courts in Tulsa and OKC. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

HB4066: Creates a Federal Overreach and Extraordinary Litigation Revolving Fund for the Office of the Attorney General to handle legal fees from challenges to federal actions and regulations. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

SB518: Requires certain information to be collected and published when a petition for referendum is filed, increases the number of matched data points from three to four for signatures collected to be deemed valid, requires posted notice, increases protest period from 10 to 20 business days. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

SB758: Requires medical marijuana license background checks to include a fingerprint check and establishes a new procedure for approvals, rejections and appeals. This bill was sent to the governor.

 

SB1200: Contingent on related federal permissions, directs the state of Oklahoma to adopt daylight saving time as the year-round standard for time in Oklahoma, with common carriers exempted. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

SB1877: Increases the window to aggregate the value of larceny crimes from 90 days to 180 days. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

SB1939: Requires Medical Marijuana Authority approval on any application to transfer licenses and modifies procedures related to the renewal and expiration of valid licenses. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

HB2191: Prohibits the taking or damaging of private property unless necessary for public use and requires just compensation and directs the court to strictly construe eminent domain statutes in favor of property owners; changes purpose of taking from "public purpose" to "public use," a more restrictive test. No action on CCR in Senate, dead pursuant to rules.

 

SB1705: Prohibits adversarial foreign governments and their enterprises from acquiring land and clarifies procedures related to the foreclosure of properties in violation. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

SJR23: Authorizes an election for a Constitutional Amendment to clarify that only citizens of the United States are qualified to vote in Oklahoma. This bill was signed by the governor.

 

HB3453: Creates the Artificial Intelligence Bill of Rights which requires vendors and services operating large language models and other artificial intelligence to disclose certain information to users. Died in Senate Judiciary Committee.

 

SB1854: Prohibits the establishment of unauthorized camps on state lands. First offenders to be issued a warning, second offenders to be charged with a misdemeanor. This bill was signed by the governor.

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