When the Senate decided to take a break from lawmaking in the middle of last week, the House continued working on several pieces of legislation that had piled up on the desks of Senators in the past few days.
But one new measure to pop-up was House Bill 1370, which eliminates a 30-year-old provision that would have triggered a tax increase on fuel at the pump if the federal government suspends its gas tax.
The move comes as President Donald Trump considers suspending the federal gas tax to provide relief for Americans at the pump as the war in Iran continues to constrain global oil markets. But Oklahoma's trigger law would have meant an increase in the state's tax to compensate for lost revenue.
The bill number was originally attached to totally different language, which lawmakers gutted and replaced with the new proposal.
Sen. Warren Hamilton, R-McCurtain, debated in favor of the bill, making a comparison to Oklahoma's elimination of its statewide grocery tax.
"If the federal government decides the same thing that the state decided on their grocery tax… on fuel tax, then the state of Oklahoma is only going to collect the taxes that they're already collecting," Hamilton said. "What it says is we tax you because we have to, not because we can."
The bill passed the Senate and the House in rapid succession. Meanwhile, Gov. Kevin Stitt, who spurred the idea in lawmakers, has condoned the move.
"Should President Trump move to suspend the federal gas tax, Oklahomans will now truly benefit from this relief due to rapid action taken today at the Capitol," Stitt said. "I applaud members of my administration who identified this antiquated law, and Republican legislative leaders for acting within 24 hours to protect the President's America First agenda in Oklahoma."
But that measure was one of only dozens the Senate considered, and Sen. Shane Jett, R- Shawnee, and Chair of the far-right Freedom Caucus, expressed a related frustration shared by lawmakers in both chambers.
"I commend Speaker Hilbert and the House members who are doing a yeoman's work doing the people's business," Jett said. "They passed 130 bills in one legislative day. Meanwhile, this is an election year and people are home in their districts doing, I don't know, getting tan ready and rested, knocking doors. Who knows?"
Senate Pro Temp Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, has repeatedly said the decision to end early was prompted by the majority caucus's agenda being complete. He said the chamber would adjourn and wait on the House to catch up.
But instead of working on bills while there was time, Jett said on the Senate floor, members were forced by leadership to vote on dozens of measures with only one day to read them.
He said Paxton's move to stall the legislature is an election-year ploy, meant to protect members who would vote for his leadership next year.
"Everyone's worried about losing elections or losing their corner offices," Jett said. "This is the problem with this building…This is theatrics. And what happened last week and what happened this week is an embarrassment and a dark mark on the history of the Republican caucus in control of this building."
After an early morning start and several attempts by lawmakers to suspend the senate legislative rules and force certain bills through – delaying the day's work – members in the Senate voted on dozens of bills, and five veto overrides, sent over by the House.
House Speaker Kyle Hilbert held a press conference after the last tap of the House's gavel. He told reporters he's ultimately happy with the way the session turned out, despite the recent kerfuffle in the Senate delaying things, and while he contemplated the need for a special session to tie loose ends late last week, it's not his choice to make.
"I think we're going to take a moment and celebrate the fact we're at sine die and got past another great session and we'll see," Hilbert said. "That ultimately will be, of course, up to the governor if he would decide to call a special session or not."
