TRANSCRIPT:
Announcer: Capitol Insider sponsored by the Oklahoma State Medical Association, committed to connecting Oklahoma physicians with matters that are important to Oklahoma patients. More on the vision and mission of OSMA at okmed.org.
Logan Layden: This is Capitol Insider, taking you inside politics, policy, and government in Oklahoma. I'm Logan Layden, in this week for Dick Pryor, with Quorum Call publisher Shawn Ashley. Shawn, the 2026 legislative session must adjourn by 5 p.m. May 29th. Lawmakers appeared to have a plan to finish most of their work this past Thursday and to adjourn the session, Sine Die, on May 14th. What happened to that plan?
Shawn Ashley: Well, the House passed a resolution Monday and the Senate passed the same resolution Tuesday, saying they would complete their consideration of bills by Thursday, May 7th, adjourn to the call of the chair, come back if they needed to, and then adjourn sine die on May 14th, essentially two weeks earlier. But after passing that resolution, the Senate changed its mind. It decided it had considered all the House bills it needed to consider before the May 7 deadline to do so. And that it would then take Wednesday and Thursday off and wait and see what the House would do. Now the House responded by considering nearly every bill it could consider, including some that had been on its agenda for more than a year. Some of those bills go to Governor Stitt for his consideration, but a larger group go back to the Senate for possible consideration of House amendments to those Senate bills. They handed the Senate a bunch of work.
Logan Layden: Well, where do things stand now?
Shawn Ashley: Well, the House plans to gavel in and out Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, House Speaker Kyle Hilbert said this past Thursday. And that allows the House to formally receive anything the Senate might pass if it meets. Hilbert said the House could come back earlier if necessary. On Friday, Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton said his leadership team is working to determine how many days it needs to meet to finish its work. He did say the Senate probably will not meet on Monday. But it could be back on the floor Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, depending on how much work they think they have left to do.
Logan Layden: Well, last week, you and Dick talked about sunset bills, the bills that allow certain agencies, boards, and commissions to continue to operate. Governor Kevin Stitt has vetoed more of those bills as well as a bill reforming that process. It seems like there may be a fundamental disagreement between the governor and the legislature about this process.
Shawn Ashley: Governor Stitt has vetoed nearly 10 sunset extension bills at this point, along with House Bill 3320, a bill reforming the sunset process. Stitt took issue with the reform bill because it eliminated sunset dates for nearly 40 agency boards and commissions. In his veto message, he quoted President Ronald Reagan who said, “a government program is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth.” Speaker Kyle Hilbert said Thursday, “I think we just have policy disagreements when it comes to those provisions.” Now the House has overridden the veto of House Bill 3320, the Sunset Reform Bill, but it still needs to be overridden by the Senate in order to become law.
Logan Layden: Governor Kevin Stitt issued an executive order Wednesday that requires the Department of Human Services and the Oklahoma Health Care Authority to verify the citizen status for those applying for benefits. That sounds a lot like two bills House Speaker Kyle Hilbert tried unsuccessfully to get passed. How did this come about?
Shawn Ashley: It really is kind of interesting. As we've talked about before, Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton decided not to move the speaker's Bill forward. Now, Speaker Hilbert said he was talking with members of the House Republican Caucus about that bill's failure to move forward when Representative Jay Steagall, a Republican from Yukon and Chair of the State Powers Committee, suggested the same thing might be accomplished through an executive order from Governor Stitt. Hilbert said he thought that was a pretty good idea, and he began discussions with the governor's office and the secretary of state's office, which culminated with the executive order Governor Stitt signed this week.
Logan Layden: Finally, State Treasurer Todd Russ has released new state revenue collection numbers. What do those show?
Shawn Ashley: Total collections reached $2.5 billion in April, according to Treasurer Russ. That's $468 million more than was collected in April one year ago. Now, April is a big month for individual income tax collections, and that was particularly true this year. Individual income tax collections totaled $1.4 billion. That's a 52% increase over collections from one year ago. And I think we'll soon begin seeing the result of increased energy prices as a result of the Iran War. Those collections lagged by about two months, so next month's report could show some very interesting numbers.
Logan Layden: Thank you, Shawn.
Shawn Ashley: You're very welcome.
Logan Layden: For more information, go to quorumcall.online. You can find video of Capitol Insider segments on the KGOU YouTube channel. Audio and transcripts are at kgou.org and look for Capitol Insider where you get podcasts. Until next time, with Shawn Ashley, I'm Logan Layden.
Announcer: You know every day on Up First, NPR's Golden Globe-nominated morning news podcast, we bring you three essential stories. At the heart of each story are questions. What really happened? What really mattered? What happens next? At NPR, we stand for your right to be curious and to follow the facts. Follow Up First wherever you get your podcasts and start your day knowing what matters and why.
Listeners like you provide essential funding for KGOU’s news reports, including Capitol Insider, available in podcasts, online, on the air and on You Tube. Support Capitol Insider and this station at KGOU.org.
