Bill filing has concluded for the 2020 legislative session, and legislators are set to have a busy four months. A total of 2,201 House and Senate bills were submitted, as well as 39 joint or concurrent resolutions. Additionally, there are hundreds of measures that were filed in 2019 that will also be eligible to be taken up again, with nearly 650 in the Senate alone.
House Completes Bill Filing Process for 2020 Session
The full text of the bills, along with additional information including authors and coauthors, can be found online at www.okhouse.gov.
Last year, the Clerk of the House reported 1,733 House bills and 21 House Joint Resolutions were filed. For the 2018 session, 1,193 House bills and 32 House Joint Resolutions were filed.
The House is comprised of 23 Democrats and 77 Republicans, with one vacant seat. The second session of the 57th Legislature will begin Monday, Feb. 3 at noon with the State of the State address from Gov. Kevin Stitt in the House Chamber.
Senate bills filed for 2020 session
The Senate has completed filing bills for the second session of the 57th Legislature. The deadline was Thursday, January 16 and a total of 840 Senate Bills and 19 Senate Joint Resolutions were filed. In 2019, 1,040 Senate Bills and 22 Senate Joint Resolutions were filed by the deadline. A total of 645 Senate Bills and Senate Joint Resolutions were carried over from the 2019 session and can still be considered during the 2020 session.
The Thursday deadline did not apply to appropriations bills, which can be filed throughout the session. In addition, Senate rules allow substantive bills to be introduced during the session after the filing deadline. In order for this to occur, the bill is assigned to committee by the Majority Floor Leader and the legislation can only proceed if the committee agrees to become the published author of the bill. Such bills must still be heard on the floor by March 12, the deadline for floor votes on legislation originating in the Senate. Senate rules also allow for bills by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives to be filed throughout the session. Senate Resolutions and Senate Concurrent Resolutions can be filed throughout the session as well.
Members of the public can read and download current legislation by going to the official State Senate website at www.oksenate.gov and following the link for legislation at the top of the homepage. The Senate website also includes daily agendas, meeting notices, calendars, and other helpful information.
The 2020 legislative session will reconvene on Monday, February 3, 2020. The Senate offers streaming audio and video with closed captioning from the Senate Chamber, and all committee rooms. Wireless Internet access is available to all Capitol visitors throughout the Senate gallery, committee rooms, offices and press rooms.
from MuskogeePolitico.com
