As the new year starts, so too does lawmaking. Leadership in both chambers established committees and their membership in December. They say the committees address the needs of Oklahomans early and thoroughly.
In Oklahoma, as in most states, legislative committees can help indicate to the public how lawmakers think about real-time policy questions – their selected chairs and vice chairs determine what policy proposals related to those questions get a chance at a floor vote.
The Senate President Pro Temp and Speaker of the House choose what topics will be addressed each legislative session by designating committees, their chairpeople and membership.
Topics can vary from the expected – and generalized – Appropriations and Budget Committee in both chambers, to the more specific House Government Modernization and Technology Committee.
Senate committee preview
Voted into the top leadership position by the Senate Republican majority last fall, Senate Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton wasted little time choosing fellow chamber leaders.
Honoring his predecessor’s choice for the top fiscal spot, Paxton picked Perry Republican Chuck Hall to chair the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Bartlesville’s Republican Julie Daniels will be the majority floor leader. Daniels has served as assistant majority whip and assistant floor leader in the past.
Paxton released a list of senate committees and chair appointments in early December. There are 16 committees in the Senate, beyond the Administrative Rules Committee, which helps organize how the chamber operates.
“These Senators will be charged with hearing legislation and issues that are important to Oklahomans, while acting as leaders and mentors to everyone on the committees they oversee,” Paxton said, in an early December press release. “They will also be crucial in working with other state partners, agencies and our federal delegation.”Paxton pointed to the palpable energy and excitement Republicans feel thanks to an incoming Trump administration.
“With a new administration starting in January in Washington, we are at a pivotal time to make positive change on the state and federal levels,” he said.
View the full Senate committee list and membership here.
House committee preview
Last fall, Oklahoma’s House Republican majority chose House Speaker Kyle Hilbert to lead them. He’s the youngest to ever do it at 30 years old.
And with a chamber to manage that’s twice as large as the State Senate, Hilbert has opted to redesign the House Committee system in a way he says will make policy discussions more like the state budget.
"Each year, the legislature considers thousands of bills and committees are where the majority of deliberative work should be done to build consensus around language and needed changes," Hilbert said in a press release last month. "The more thorough work we can do in the beginning of session, the more likely we are to have a clear, transparent process that allows good bills to become law."
The new system includes a few broad “oversight” committees, each with sub-committees addressing narrower policy proposals that are topically related.
For instance, the House Education Oversight Committee, led by Republican Reps. Dell Kerbs from Shawnee and Toni Hasenbeck from Elgin, will entail “common education" and a “postsecondary education” committee, each with leaders and members.
Hilbert released a full list of House committees and chair appointments in mid-December.
Lawton Republican Trey Caldwell will lead House Appropriations, and Grove Republican Josh West will serve as majority floor leader. The house will have eight committees and 31 sub-committees.
Full House committee membership can be viewed here.
