TRANSCRIPT
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Dick Pryor: This is Capitol Insider - taking you inside politics, policy, and government in Oklahoma. I'm Dick Pryor with Quorum Call publisher, Shawn Ashley. The U.S. Supreme Court closed out its session by issuing a series of major decisions. One of those upheld the right of states to ban transgender girls and women from playing on girls and women's sports teams. The other affirmed birthright citizenship. Shawn, do either of those decisions affect current Oklahoma law or policy?
Shawn Ashley: The court's decision on the right of states to ban transgender girls from playing on girls and women's sports teams directly impacts Oklahoma. Lawmakers approved and Governor Stitt signed the “Save Women's Sports Act” in 2022, which prohibits transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports. Oklahoma is one of 27 states with those kinds of laws which were effectively upheld by the court's decision on Tuesday.
Now, I'm not aware of any state laws that will be directly affected by the birthright citizenship decision, but bills have been introduced in previous legislative sessions that would have required the state to determine the citizenship of children born here. Under those proposals, children born of undocumented aliens would not have been considered citizens of either the United States or the state of Oklahoma. Those bills, however, did not get a hearing.
Dick Pryor: More than a hundred bills passed during this year's session became law on Wednesday. What stands out that people should be aware of in that group of laws?
Shawn Ashley: One year after establishing a pilot program to ban cell phones in public schools, lawmakers were quick to make that permanent when they passed House Bill 1276. That bill requires each school district board of education permanently adopt a policy to prohibit the use of cell phones and smartwatches by students during the entirety of the school day. Lawmakers also approved and Governor Stitt signed Senate Bill 201, which gave a $2,000 raise to public school teachers, and Senate Bill 169, which increased longevity payments for state employees.
And one bill I'm really excited about is Senate Bill 1877. It requires the Secretary of State's office to create and maintain a centralized filing system to house statutorily required reports and directs that all reports be electronically filed in that system. Agency boards and commissions and legislatively created task forces often are required to file reports about specific programs or activities, but tracking those down can be difficult. This will provide a central location to find those reports for reporters and the public.
Dick Pryor: When the calendar turned to July, the new Oklahoma fiscal year began. What does a new fiscal year mean for state government?
Shawn Ashley: This year was probably easier than some past years. Lawmakers passed and Governor Stitt signed the general appropriations bill by the middle of April, and then a series of other bills specifying how some of that money was to be spent. That gave agencies extra time to prepare their fiscal year 2027 budgets before the new fiscal year began on Wednesday. In some years, one of the last things passed was the upcoming fiscal year's budget. And then the governor had around two weeks to sign or veto it, leaving agencies with little time to put their budget plans together. This year's budget totaled $12.82 billion, 1.5% more than was appropriated for fiscal year 2026, which ended June 30th, but nearly $800 million less than agencies said they needed to operate properly.
Dick Pryor: One of the tasks for state boards and commissions between legislative sessions is to revise and write administrative rules to be presented to the legislature in the next session. That work is important, but it's not easy. Beginning this year, agencies have less time to do it.
Shawn Ashley: That’s right. Administrative rules determine how agencies, boards, and commissions will implement the laws passed by the legislature. And over the last several years, lawmakers have approved a series of bills that reform the administrative review process. Previously, agencies, boards, and commissions had until April 1 to submit their proposed rules to the legislature for review before lawmakers adjourned in May, leaving lawmakers very little time to conduct that review. And that meant the rules sometimes took effect without full legislative review. That deadline has now been moved back to February 1st, giving lawmakers more time to conduct their review of the proposed rules.
Dick Pryor: All right. Thank you, Shawn.
Shawn Ashley: You're very welcome.
Dick Pryor: For more information, go to quorumcall.online. You can find video of Capitol Insider segments on the KGOU You Tube channel. Audio and transcripts are at kgou.org and look for Capitol Insider where you get podcasts. Until next time, it's Shawn Ashley, I'm Dick Pryor.
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