Lawmakers filed 3,273 bills this session, 499 of which would eventually become law for a 15 percent success rate.
Big picture, it's a relatively normal outcome in terms of the ratio of measures filed to those passed. However, the details of the bills that Gov. Kevin Stitt ensured were signed into law, the ones he vetoed, and the ones the legislature overrode his authority on help paint a picture of what Oklahomans can expect in updates to state law.
Among the 150 bills Stitt signed into law, he's most proud of his quarter percent cut to the state income tax, and the path to an eventual zero percent rate.
He also touted the passage of bills he says will make Oklahoma more business-friendly.
"Oklahoma is the most business-friendly state in the nation, and the policies I signed into law this session will make our state even more attractive to companies looking to set up shop," Stitt wrote in a May 30 press release.
Those include:
- Senate Bill 480, a measure that allows private businesses to build their own electricity infrastructure in parts of the state it's otherwise lacking. The idea is to relieve its author Rep. Brad Boles, R-Marlow, called a 'bottleneck of grid connections' for large industrial consumers. The bill passed both chambers unanimously.
- Senate Bill 632 filed by Republican leaders in both chambers sets up the business court structure Stitt has yearned for, and makes good on the last legislature's promise made to him in exchange for backing off of cutting the state income tax alongside the state's sales tax on groceries. It's an entirely new branch in Oklahoma's court's system designed for disputes between large corporations.
- House Bill 1460, eliminates court fees for people who plead guilty to marijuana and drug paraphernalia-related misdemeanors. It also waives fees due by defendants to reimburse associated law enforcement agencies for their related court fees.
Also on Stitt's list of wins are measures banning cell phone use in Oklahoma classrooms and eliminating virtual school days except during emergencies.
But most of Stitt's top priorities were accomplished with the support of nearly every Republican in the legislature, or with some bipartisan support.
More telling was the historic number of bills the Stitt vetoed – 69 – more than any governor before him. Lawmakers overrode his authority on most of them.
Many bills were sent to Stitt early and took effect without his signature. Five died because they were sent to his desk in the final days, and he didn't sign them.
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