In the weeks leading up to the first day of the 2021 legislative session, members worked closely with staff to meet the Jan. 21 deadline for filing bills. The final numbers showed 1,035 Senate bills and 26 joint resolutions were filed in our chamber.
Many of those bills were moving through the legislature in the 2020 session, but when COVID shut down the Capitol for several weeks, the remaining time in the session was focused on completing the budget. Some policy bills were prioritized for final action, but others didn’t make it all the way through both chambers simply because of time constraints. Many of those measures were refiled to be heard this year.
The Senate appropriations subcommittees were also hard at work in the weeks leading up to the session, holding meetings with state agencies to hear how they’d utilized their state appropriations in the current budget year and give them an opportunity to explain their budget request for the next fiscal year.
On Monday, we formally convened the 2021 session. The highlight of the first day is the governor’s State of the State address, giving him a chance to share his budget and policy priorities for the new year. By Tuesday, the focus shifted to committee work as members debated and voted on legislation.
I will continue to serve as the chair of the Senate’s Business, Commerce and Tourism Committee for two more years. I’m also very honored to have been asked to serve as Assistant Majority Floor Leader of the Senate. I’ll be assisting the Floor Leader, Sen. Kim David, ensuring the smooth flow of work on the floor of the Senate each session day.
By Wednesday, we held our first floor vote of the session by the full Senate. During the 2021 session, just before the Capitol was closed, we got a bill to the governor’s desk con taining temporary exemptions to the state’s Open Meeting Act to allow government boards and commissions to meet virtually, however those exemptions expired in November. We fast tracked SB 1031, which will restore those exemptions with some minor changes to protect public access to those meetings and the information presented.
Under SB 1031, any materials provided to members of the public body during a virtual meeting must immediately be made available to citizens on the public body’s website. It also requires public bodies to conduct meetings in the manner described on the public notice of the meeting. In addition, any necessary passcodes to access videoconferencing must be included in the public meeting notice. Finally, this bill makes the exemptions effective until Feb. 15, 2022, or until 30 days after the expiration or termination of the state of emergency declared by the governor to respond to the threat of COVID-19, whichever date comes first.
While the daily number of new COVID cases is declining, this virus is still spreading in communities across the state and continues to pose a serious health risk to many Oklahomans. This bill will allow our cities, counties, local school boards, and other government entities to take advantage of technology to conduct the business of the people as safely as possible.
I thank you for the privilege of being your voice at the State Capitol. If you have any questions or concerns about legislation or other issues at the state level, please feel free to contact my office by calling 405-521- 5528, or email James.Leewright@oksenate.gov.