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Cantrell
This week we wrapped up the third-reading deadline for legislation to pass from its opposite chamber.
Once a bill passes its opposite chamber, it can move to the Governor if it’s unamended. The Governor has already signed over 55 pieces of legislation into law so far this year.
If bills are amended in the opposite chamber, they must return to their chamber of origin for a vote to accept or reject the changes. If amendments are rejected, the bills have one final possibility to advance in the current session – through the conference committee process. This is where members from both the House and Senate committees where the bills were originally considered gather to approve or disapprove final language. Many measures die at this crossroads, but a few survive.
This week two bills I authored, House Bill 1893 and House Bill 1894, were sent to the Governor for consideration of signing into law. I’ve updated everyone on these bills before, but here is a quick explanation of each bill.
House Bill 1893 modifies the penalties for assaulting county elected officials.
And, House Bill 1894 allows county clerks to sign, accept or receive documents digitally. HB1894 allows photocopies, photographs, digital copies, photographic film, or optical disk versions of records to serve as the original record and to be admissible by the county for accounts payable and inventory.
Inthemeantime,theLegislature is continuing to work on our state budget for Fiscal Year 2024, which starts July 1. I’m told negotiations this year are some of the toughest yet. I’ve also been told that happens when there’s more money to spend as the arguments grow over where funding will have the best effect. Still, the House is moving forward on the budget.
The House has second-read several bills scheduled for our Joint Committee on Appropriations & Budget, and the chairs for our A&B subcommittees met this week. We have a record amount of about $12.6 billion to appropriate, but we still have to negotiate where this money goes, how much we’ll leave in state savings, and how much we will return to taxpayers in the form of tax relief The House will continue to examine priorities for state dollars as we move toward the close of the session. Accomplishing a balanced budget is the one thing we are constitutionally required to do as a Legislature each year. I plan to keep you updated as we work through the budget.
Again, thank you for electing me to serve District 49. It is truly an honor and privilege to represent you at the State Capitol. Please do not hesitate to contact me at 405-5577383orjosh.cantrell@okhouse.gov.. Rep.JoshCantrell,aRepublican, serves District 49 Oklahoma House of Representatives, which covers Carter, Love and Marshall counties.