Dec. 18, 2023

Democracy Watch

Lawmakers Begin Filing Bills Ahead of 2024 Session

By Keaton Ross | Democracy/Criminal Justice Reporter

With one month left until the annual bill filing deadline, attention is turning to what issues lawmakers will prioritize during the upcoming legislative session. 

As of late Friday afternoon, more than 2,900 House and Senate bills are eligible for consideration in 2024, including newly filed bills and carryover legislation that stalled in 2023. That number will likely rise by the hundreds over the next four weeks. 

In an interview with KOCO’s Andy Weber last week, Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, said he will push to eliminate the state portion of the grocery sales tax. Early last week Treat filed Senate Bill 1283, which would eliminate the 4.5% state tax on food and food ingredients effective Nov. 1, 2024. 

While a bipartisan group of House representatives have backed eliminating the grocery sales tax for years, the measures have historically stalled in the Senate. But with questions of the long-term effects of cutting off a significant state revenue source, there’s no guarantee the proposal will reach the governor’s desk even with Treat’s support. 

Other proposals filed in recent weeks look to give a raise to all state employees, eliminate state park entrance and day-use fees for Oklahoma residents and require school districts to provide free meals to students whose family income falls at or below 250% of the federal poverty line.

As a reminder, just because a lawmaker files a bill doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed a hearing. We should have a decent sense which bills are being seriously considered after the first committee hearing deadline on Feb. 29. The session officially kicks off on Feb. 5. 

Have thoughts, questions or story ideas? Let me know at Kross@Oklahomawatch.org. 

Note: The Democracy Watch newsletter will pause for the holidays and return to your inbox on Monday, Jan. 8. Additionally, in last week’s newsletter I incorrectly stated the House District 39 special primary election would go to a runoff. That error has been corrected in the article version of the newsletter. 

What I’m Reading This Week:

• Republican Dusty Deevers Wins Lawton Senate Seat in Special Election: Deevers, a Christian pastor and businessman from Elgin, campaigned on abolishing abortion and vowed to support legislation that would allow prosecutors to charge women who undergo the procedure. [Oklahoma Voice]
• Edmond’s HD 39: Erick Harris, Regan Raff Advance in Special Election: A small business owner and accountant, Raff garnered about 82 percent of the electorate in a landslide vote Tuesday, totaling 958 votes. Harris, a former assistant attorney general, topped the other six Republican candidates on the ballot with about 27 percent of the electorate, totaling 896 votes. [NonDoc]
• An Oklahoma Mom’s Court Challenge Seeks to End Charges For Pregnant Women Who Use Medical Marijuana: The legal challenge involves the case of Brittany Gunsolus, 27, who used marijuana edibles and topical creams during her pregnancy with a recommendation from her doctor, according to the filing. At a court hearing in Comanche County in August, a prosecutor argued Gunsolus broke the law because her unborn child did not have its own, separate state license to use medical marijuana. [The Frontier] 

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