Oklahoma’s Legislative Session Opens with Thousands of Bills

A tide of bills accompanied the start of the Oklahoma legislative session on Monday, Feb. 3, with more than 3,000 bills filed over the past week.

To start the new session, Gov. Kevin Stitt delivered his State of the State address, which served as a first presentation for the executive’s agenda for 2025 and beyond. Stitt addressed critical areas like Oklahoma’s energy industry, tax cuts and even new restrictions for state school districts.

While some bills filed by the legislature advanced the governor’s agenda, thousands of bills span countless topics of concern for the Sooner State, such as renewable energy, healthcare, transportation infrastructure and funding, rural needs and legislation for secure elections across the state, just to name a few.

Some of the biggest pieces of legislation imitate Washington, D.C. as Oklahoma aims to tackle critical issues such as immigration, tax cuts and balancing the government budget.

Immigration

In tandem with much of President Donald Trump’s agenda, the Oklahoma legislature wasted no time in cooperating with the federal government and organizing state resources to address illegal immigration.

Republican lawmakers paved the way for prioritizing efficiency with the White House’s initiatives, but the laws themselves, if passed, do not necessarily strengthen state law enforcement for deportations.

Rather, the laws aim to aid immigration enforcement in the state’s economy and school system, which Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters already signaled would be a top priority for the State Department of Education.

“Some bills include House Bills 1165 by Rep. Gabe Woolley, R–Broken Arrow, and 1671 by Rep. Josh Cantrell. R–Kingston. They mimic the proposed Oklahoma State Department of Education administrative rule change to count unauthorized migrants interacting with the state’s public schools.

The proposed rules change is an effort led by Ryan Walters, the state superintendent of public instruction, who has actively committed to carrying out Trump’s immigration agenda,” according to KOSU-NPR.

KOSU-NPR also reported that in the workplace, filed bills include requiring proof of citizenship from Oklahoma employers and mandating all public facilities, such as municipalities, schools and libraries comply with immigration authorities. 

“Also by Woolley, House Bill 1962 requires Oklahoma employers to verify their workers’ citizenship status, establishing fines of up to $500 per offense for non-compliance.

“Continuing along the vein of accounting for unauthorized migrants in Oklahoma, Senate Bill 489 by Sen. Shane Jett, R–Shawnee, proposes expanding the prohibition of ‘sanctuary city’ policies to any and all political subdivisions in the state.”

The Sooner State’s Spending

Stitt made state income tax a point of attack for his 2025 agenda, with the legislature aiming to balance the budget of the entire state government.

“‘I’m not afraid to invest in certain things, but we cannot continue to increase spending every year over the next six years by another 50 percent,’ Stitt said earlier this week.

“The top priority of every legislative session is passing a balanced budget. This year, Stitt is calling for every department to get a flat budget but also wants to find a way to give Oklahomans an income tax cut.”

Stitt outlined his “half and a path” strategy, which is a baby step toward eventual monetary balance as the Sooner State strives to embrace a limited government approach to spending.

“‘I believe they [taxpayers] can spend their money better than the government can,’ Stitt said. ‘My goal this year is ‘a half and a path.’ So, a half-a-point tax cut and path to zero,’” according to KOCO.

Overall, as the state legislature reviews the thousands of bills scheduled to cross its chambers, citizens of Oklahoma may soon witness a large amount of change across all areas of governance.

From local leaders interacting with federal ones, state funding being cut or redirected, or Oklahomans keeping more of their paychecks, some long overdue change sits on the docket.

Read more about the introduced bills spanning education, immigration, taxes, budget and schools from The 74, KOCO, KOSU (NPR), News 9.