The deadline to introduce measures is Jan. 15 at 4 p.m, so there is still plenty of time for lawmakers to file what normally ends up being thousands of bills.
Realistically, only a couple of hundred are ever signed into law.
Still, early proposals aim to protect Oklahomans from predatory home and auto insurance practices, increase transparency of public meetings, invest in public schools and exclude immigrants - legally present in the country and otherwise - from certain aspects of public life.
One measure, Senate Bill 1253 by Big Cabin Republican Micheal Bergstrom, aims to adjust the state's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefit administration to align with new federal guidelines, specifically those related to employment and other eligibility requirements.
Here is an early breakdown of bills filed for Oklahoma's 2026 legislative session so far:
Insurance protections and tax breaks:
Tulsa Republican Rep. Mark Tedford filed a series of six measures aimed at protecting Oklahomans from various predatory insurance practices.
- House Bill 2929 - prohibits home insurance providers from canceling or increasing premiums for people who make single claims based on large floods or claims older than five years.
- House Bill 2930 - Prohibits auto insurance providers from using traffic tickets to adjust policies and increase premiums.
- House Bill 2931 - Increases the value of certain annuity funds subject to the Health Insurance Guaranty Association Act, which helps keep Oklahomans holding health coverage policies with a provider that goes out of business, for example, insured while they make adjustments.
- House Bill 2932 - Prohibits the recovery of the first $100,000 of bodily injury and/ or property damages for people who fail to maintain proper liability insurance on their vehicle.
- House Bill 2933 - Requires insurance providers to report a slew of information to the Oklahoma Insurance Department, including but not limited to changes in policies and price hikes.
- House Bill 2934 - Protects people from civil liability when they cause bodily injury or property damage while responding to the criminal act of another person, unless they're an accomplice.
On the tax front, Oklahoma City Republican Rep. Emily Gise filed House Bill 2935, a tax break on diapers for infants.
Meanwhile, her fellow Republican from Catoosa, Rep. Derrick Hildebrant, refiled an income tax break for churches with "health care ministry" expenses in the form of House Bill 2942. It's similar to his measure last year, which failed in the House Appropriations and Finance Subcommittee.
Proposed government ethics and transparency regulations:
At least eight measures focused on forcing more transparency from the state government were filed, mostly by members of the far-right Republican coalition known as the Oklahoma Freedom Caucus. Blanchard Republican and Freedom Caucus member Sen. Kendal Sacchieri filed four of the proposed bills.
- Senate Bills 1199 and 1200 - Add restrictions on financial conflicts of interest for public school and technology center boards. It also aims to limit certain financial interests to a 5% stake if board members, or their family, have a part in a local business acting as one of a few local suppliers of certain goods or services.
- Senate Bill 1215 - Prohibits any state government entities, including individuals and public trusts, from entering into a non-disclosure agreement.
- Senate Bill 1240 - Also dubbed the "Protect Taxpayers Act of 2026," this measure prohibits state entities from spending public money to lobby on behalf of any issue or legislation. Punishment is whatever injunctive relief a defendant might claim, assuming a judge approves it. In other words, it requires a lawsuit to enforce.
Fellow Freedom Caucus members Sen. Prieto, R-Tulsa, and Rep. Olsen, R-Roland, filed similar measures in their respective chambers addressing public access and comment at meetings held by government entities.
- Senate Bill 1206 by Prieto requires all government officials holding a meeting before the public, subject to the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act, to allow reasonable public comment periods and to formally address those comments in following meetings.
- House Bill 2940 by Olsen, dubbed the "First Amendment Open Meetings Protection Act," requires public bodies holding meetings to allow members of the public to record. Attempts to prohibit recording can be met with legal action and monetary compensation determined by a judge.
Sen. Brian Guthrie, R-Bixby, while not a member of the Freedom Caucus, filed Senate Bill 1252, which aims to accomplish much of the same as Prieto and Olsen's bills.
Early school funding measures:
Sen. Adam Pugh, R- Edmond, is the Senate Education Committee Chair and a candidate for Oklahoma's next State Superintendent of Public Instruction. He's filed two early measures aiming to inject money into public schools.
- Senate Bill 1189 - Enables a $50 million from the School Security Revolving Fund to be distributed evenly among all 500-plus school districts in the state over three years, if there is enough money in the account. It's unclear what the fund's total balance is, but the injection would be less than $100,000 per district.
- Senate Bill 1193 - Allows smaller school districts to keep unused state appropriations and still get money for the following fiscal years.
Attempts to exclude immigrants from public life:
Sen. Sacchieri filed six measures aimed at restricting the lives of immigrants in Oklahoma.
- Senate Bill 1211 - Disqualifies H1-B visa holders, who are highly skilled employees hired from abroad by companies operating in the U.S. and considered 'nonimmigrants,' in federal statute, from certain Ad Valorem tax breaks on their owned property.
- Senate Bill 1222 - Prohibits the issuance and use of driver's licenses without an address on them, invalidates such licenses issued in other states and increases the fines on commercial drivers who carry them as identification.
- Senate Bill 1223 - Requires commercial truck drivers to meet certain English Language Proficiency standards before driving. The proposed fine for not meeting it is $1,000.
- Senate Bill 1230 - Requires Service Oklahoma verify 'legal presence' in the U.S. for REAL ID applicants.
- Senate Bill 1231 - Prohibits members of the public not in possession of a "digital ID" from refusing access by state government officials to any location.
- Senate Bill 1243 - Requires anyone driving in Oklahoma to be a U.S. citizen or 'legal resident' of the country. It also mandates a "citizen marker" to be displayed on newly issued IDs, while prohibiting the issuance of identification to anyone who can't prove they are a citizen or lawfully in the U.S.
