The final hours: a news brief for the end of the 2025 legislative session

I have been swamped with work, family, and church activities for the last few weeks, and it's taken a big toll on my blogging time availability, so I'm going to attempt a brief summary here of just 16 of the 100+ news and press releases I've received in the past two weeks, including the state budget agreement, income tax cuts, economic development projects, audits, and more.

In order of what I feel is most newsworthy:

• May 26th: When “Shall” Becomes “May”: Why the People of Oklahoma Face a Dangerous Four Days Ahead. This is a must-read from what it swiftly becoming the best grassroots conservative coverage of legislative shenanigans, authored by former State Rep. Jason Murphey. You need to subscribe to his newsletter.
  "Under the rules of this House of Representatives, your elected representative does not have the authority to lodge a main motion before the House of Representatives until and unless he receives the permission of the powerful House Speaker's designee. [...] This assault on parliamentary principles—and on the republican form of government itself—is a betrayal of everything we first-generation majority Republicans once stood for when we set out to reform the Oklahoma Legislature."
  
  Murphey is dead-on accurate that it's times like this that Oklahoma citizens much watch the legislature with the wary eye of a hawk (the legendary legislative "wooly-boogers" - thanks to Tres Savage for the link).

• May 22nd: Legislative [GOP] Leaders Comment on Passage of Budget Bill, and, Senate Democrats say FY 2026 budget comes up short, House Dems oppose. To view an appropriations summary of the $12.6B state budget, click here. To see additional details, visit the Senate Budget Transparency Dashboard or the House Budget Transparency Portal. 
  
  I'm so "old" I can remember when the legislative budget was about $7B...

• Gubernatorial vetoes: Gov. Stitt has been on a veto spree (about 50 so far), and has listed most of them here at this link. The Legislature has concluded basically all of their work, and is apparently going to work on some override votes this week (constitutionally, they have to adjourn sine die by Friday at 5pm).
  
  Related, Attorney General Gentner Drummond continues to use his state-paid staff and news releases to campaign to be Stitt's replacement: Drummond urges legislative overrides of Stitt vetoes.

• May 22nd: Oklahoma Legislature Sends Comprehensive Tax Cuts and Modernization Plan to Governor — "The Oklahoma Legislature has passed a landmark tax reform measure that reduces the personal income tax and streamlines the state’s tax code."
  
  Sort of. The tax cut increment in the bill is 0.25%, which means the triggering economic conditions would have to be hit N-I-N-E-T-E-E-N (19) different years in order to get to full elimination of the state income tax. Depending on the economy, it could be double that time, meaning this bill could easily push income tax elimination out to 2060 or beyond. 
  
  This is by no means a bold bill. It's a tepid attempt to say "look at us, we're cutting taxes!" It's basically the same kind of stunt pulled in Washington, DC, when they frontload new spending and "balance" it with cuts in years 8-10 (which never actually happen).

• May 15th: "Oklahoma Selected for Historic $4 Billion Investment from Emirates Global Aluminium" — more from OklahomaVoice here. To be located at the Port of Inola, this would be the first new aluminum facility of its kind in the U.S. in 45 years, expected to create 1,000 direct and 1,800 indirect jobs. The project aims to nearly double U.S. aluminum production. The agreement includes $275M in state funds plus another $735M in tax exemptions (yikes).

• May 21st: Senator Bryan Logan Sworn in to Represent Senate District 8. As others have noted, the balance in the Oklahoma Senate between conservative reformers and establishment moderates is very narrow. Might Logan's election tip things?

• May 20th: Administrative Rules Bills Aimed at Reducing Regulations and Restoring Legislative Oversight Sent to Governor — "Sen. Micheal Bergstrom, the Senate’s Administrative Rules Committee Chair, and Rep. Gerrid Kendrix, the House Administrative Rules Chair, secured final legislative approval for a slate of bills aimed at reducing regulations and restoring legislative oversight of Oklahoma’s administrative rules process."
  
  Related release: May 22nd: Legislature Completes Administrative Rules Process; Major Reform Bills Signed into Law — "The Oklahoma Legislature has completed its work on administrative rules for the 2025 session, approving a total of six joint resolutions addressing rules submitted by state agencies and finalizing four major reform bills. The House and Senate concluded the rules process with the passage of six joint resolutions this week, each disapproving specific proposed rules from state agencies. In total, 62 agencies, boards and commissions submitted more than 5,600 pages of rules ahead of the Feb. 1 deadline. The Legislature cannot amend rules; it only has the authority to approve or disapprove them. Once approved, rules carry the full force of law."

• May 20th: State Auditor & Inspector Releases Part-One Of Mental Health Department Audit  — “This report is a financial analysis to estimate the short-term needs of ODMHSAS. It is not the final investigative audit report,” said Auditor Byrd “However, even this abbreviated version reveals some glaring financial and systemic issues. ODMHSAS is a massive agency with an annual budget of more than $750-Million. It needs a director with executive managerial experience and a mastery of basic budgetary and compliance skills.”

• May 21st: Bill Putting Guardrails on Initiative Petition Process Advances to Governor — "Sen. David Bullard, R-Durant, today secured final passage of legislation to protect the integrity of Oklahoma’s initiative petition process while adding safeguards that ensure state question campaigns are transparent and have support from residents across the state."

• May 27th: Senator Hamilton Commends Governor Stitt for Signing Senate Bill 599 into Law — "Senate Bill 599 strengthens Oklahoma’s legal response to heinous crimes against children. The new law grants prosecutors the authority to pursue the death penalty for individuals convicted of child rape on a first offense. Additionally, it allows judges to sentence individuals found guilty of lewd molestation of a child under the age of 14 to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole."

• May 23rd: Senator Sacchieri Applauds Passage of SB20, the Secure Roads and Safe Trucking Act of 2025 — "Senate Bill 20 raises the bar by ensuring that only those who meet strict requirements — like proof of citizenship, valid work visa status, and English proficiency — are allowed to operate commercial vehicles in Oklahoma."
  
  Related, May 23rd: Wilk praises passage of Oklahoma Secure Roads and Safe Trucking Act of 2025

• May 22nd: Jenkins Responds After Student Immigration Data Amendment Is Tabled — "Rep. Molly Jenkins, R-Coyle, issued the following statement today after defending the amendment she filed to Senate Joint Resolution 22, which addressed the immigration status of students, before it was ultimately tabled. 'I brought this amendment forward because the people of Oklahoma deserve to know how their tax dollars are being used,' Jenkins said. 'The rule would have required a simple headcount of non-citizen students in our schools. That’s not just reasonable, it’s responsible.'"

• May 20th: Oklahoma Senate Sends Hospital Price Transparency Reform to Governor — "SB 889 requires hospitals to post on their websites a straightforward list of prices for services, including a simple description, billing code, discounted cash price, the maximum and minimum negotiated rates and prices reflecting health insurance coverage."

• May 22nd: Motor Vehicle Excise Tax Change to Become Law — "House Bill 1183 simplifies how motor vehicle excise tax is determined for vehicle purchases by requiring the tax to be based on the actual sales price of the vehicle. Any consideration to the average retail price of the vehicle is removed from the formula for determining the tax."

• May 16th: Daniels' Bill to End Mandatory Markup Clears Final Legislative Hurdle — "Legislation introduced by Senate Majority Floor Leader Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville, to repeal a state law requiring retailers to apply a 6% markup on many consumer goods is just one step away from becoming law.".

• May 20th: Governor Allows Emerson Kate Cole Act to Become Law — "House Bill 2047, authored by Rep. Preston Stinson, R-Edmond and also known as the Emerson Kate Cole Act, requires public schools to call 911 immediately when epinephrine is administered to a student and mandates annual training for school staff on recognizing anaphylaxis, understanding food allergies and properly using epinephrine."

Some other news sources that I find helpful in covering legislative goings-on are NonDoc (left-leaning but fair and objective), OklahomaVoice (informative but their commentary pieces are definitely left-wing), and OCPA (right-wing).

Here are two Twitter Lists of Capitol reporters: from NonDoc's Tres Savage, and one I made. Apparently, you can no longer embed these for ease of viewing.... which is annoying (hey Elon, fix this please?).