With next week’s deadline to pass House bills off the House floor, we spent many hours hearing and debating legislation. I want to highlight a few important bills I supported this week.
House Bill 2368 would expand the list of meats on the “Oklahoma Certified” list. Currently, beef is the only meat on the list. The bill would add swine, goat, lamb, poultry and fish.
It will help our farmers by cutting down some of their costs, especially with the rising gas prices, inflation and supply chain issues many people are facing. ‘Oklahoma Certified’ meats will ensure Oklahomans can buy local meats from safe sources.
Another bill we heard was House Bill 3366 by Rep. Eric Roberts. It requires Oklahoma death certificates include either the driver’s license number or state identification number of the deceased.
This is designed to help the Election Board purge deceased voters from the voter rolls. Matching death certificates to voter registrations using only the name and birth date can yield multiple matches. Additional identifying information can provide greater confidence that the correct registration has been located prior to removal.
Election security is very important to me. We want to acknowledge the voice of the people, not those who are trying to manipulate the system.
We also approved House Bill 3867 by Rep. Jeff Boatman. This creates an exception to the provisions of the Psychiatric and Chemical Dependency Facility Certificate of Need Act. It requires a needs assessment before they can add a psychiatric hospital for the University of Oklahoma.
I plan to build on this bill next session by requiring this to be utilized throughout the state.
Retired public employees could soon return to work faster without risking the loss of their monthly benefits. Currently, to access public retirement systems and the Oklahoma pension, retired members of the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System must wait one year after retirement before being rehired by their former employer or they will lose their monthly benefit. House Bill 4123 by Rep. Avery Frix cuts that amount of time in half, allowing our constituents to apply six months after retirement. This will help fill workforce gaps.
On Tuesday, I debated in favor of House Bill 4014. Authored by Rep. Sherrie Conley, it allows a parent to request and receive their child’s records from a public library and their child’s library registration information. This would ensure parents could see what materials their child has checked out.
My debate highlighted how much cognitive growth we see in children from three years old through high school. During these crucial years, it’s important that we provide the appropriate nurturing and beliefs that foster a godly way of living along with American values.
This bill passed the House 81-13. I was proud to support this bill and encourage the appropriate rearing of children.
After next week’s deadline, we’ll begin hearing Senate bills in House committees. Please continue reaching out with your thoughts on upcoming legislation. You may contact me at 405-557-7375 or randy.randleman@okhouse.gov.
Rep. Randy Randleman, a Republican, serves District 15 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, which covers Haskell County and portions of Muskogee, Sequoyah, LeFlore, Pittsburg and McIntosh counties.
Get Local News!
