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Want a more in-depth overview of how a bill becomes a law in Oklahoma? Catch our explanation here!
The legislature has some next level complexities! Get a grip on 6 of them with this video.
The threshold to pass a bill that requires more than half of the entire body’s legislators.
The state budget.
A deadline set by the legislature, typically in December. Lawmakers are required to submit the vague ideas of bills they may author and introduce. Bill requests do not contain lawmaking language. There is no limit to the amount of bills that may be reused. Recently, around 3,000 bills have been requested year to year.
CA and CS are shorthand used for Committee Amendment and Committee Substitute.
A topic specific panel of legislators that review bills. They vote for bills to move forward in the process or hold them back. Amendments and substitutes may be voted on in committees. See Conference Committee.
A resolution passed by both houses to express an idea. Concurrent Resolutions are not law and often honor high ranking officials or signify a unified opinion of the legislature.
The status of bills that have passed committee after a substitution.
An emergency clause allows for the bill to go into effect immediately after the Governor signs it into law. Requires an additional supermajority vote to pass.
FA and FS are shorthand used for Floor Amendment and Floor Substitute.
First reading is the formal name for the introduction step in the bill process. It comes from the procedure where a bill’s title and number is aloud for the first time.
Where bills and actions are voted up or down by all members in a chamber. Amendments and substitutes may be considered on the floor.
If a bill passes the second chamber (opposite to house the bill was introduced in) with amendments or substitutes, it is sent back to the first chamber so they may vote on the edits. It comes from the procedure where a bill is read aloud for the fourth time. Also see conference committee.
The elected leader of the state. They are the head of the executive branch, and signs or vetoes bills that have been passed by the legislature.
The beginning letters of a bill, the prefix, that indicate the bill started in the House of Representatives. It also indicates the type of bill:
HB stands for House Bill.
HR is a House Resolution, or a simple resolution.
HJR is a House Joint Resolution.
HCR is a House Concurrent Resolution.
One of two chambers that make up the Oklahoma State Legislature. The House of Representatives is the lower house. Those who serve in the House of Representatives are Representatives.
Any legislator may request explorations into policy topics called interim studies, though not all requests are granted. These studies take place during the time between the two regular sessions. Studies are intended to gather research on the requested topic during public legislative committee meetings. The research is gathered from speakers, or experts, selected by the legislator(s) who requested the interim study (on rare occasions, the committee chair may tap a speaker). Interim studies rarely generate formal reports or recommendations, but their work can guide future legislation. [Metriarch, OK Policy]
Follows the same process as a bill but to add a state question to the ballot to amend the constitution.
When a bill is marked Laid Over, it means the bill is on pause. The planned actions on the bill have been postponed.
In this context, a synonym for a legislator or representative. May also broadly refer to all elected officials, not just those elected to the legislature.
Can be used as shorthand to refer to the legislative branch (the Senate and the House of Representatives) or a cohort of legislators, such as the 58th Legislature.
The Governor can veto parts of appropriation bills while signing the rest. As with a standard veto, a super majority vote in the Legislature can override the veto. The law would then go into effect as passed by the Legislature.
The strategy of advancing bills during the first session so they may be picked up during the second. Due to carryover, these bills often have a head start in the legislative process and often undergo substitutions.
The threshold for a bill to pass. Most bills require either an absolute majority or simple majority. In some circumstances, a super majority or emergency clause majority is needed.
Although most bills are assigned a committee, only a handful are heard and voted on each session. Bills that are not voted on by the Legislature’s deadline are no longer active and are left to “wither on the vine“. They may carryover to the next session.
The chamber a bill is first introduced in. The originating chamber is marked by a bill’s prefix (House’s prefixes, Senate’s prefixes)
When the legislature votes to reverse the Governor’s decision to veto a bill. Requires a super majority.
If a bill is passed by the legislature during the last 5 days of the legislative session, the governor then has 15 days to sign or veto the bill. If the Governor chooses to do neither, this is the pocket veto. Because it was not formally vetoed, a pocket veto cannot be overridden.
A formal expression of an idea, opinion, or intent of one or both chambers. See Concurrent Resolution, Joint Resolution, and Simple Resolution.
The beginning letters of a bill, the prefix, that indicate the bill started in the Senate. It also indicates the type of bill:
SB stands for Senate Bill.
SR is a Senate Resolution, or a simple resolution.
SJR is a Senate Joint Resolution.
SCR is a Senate Concurrent Resolution.
One of two chambers that make up the Oklahoma State Legislature. The Senate is the upper house. Those who serve in the Senate are Senators.
An elected official who serves in the Oklahoma State Senate. Senators serve 4 year terms and represent larger districts with more people than legislators in the House of Representatives.
The time period when legislators meet to pass bills. Regular sessions are constitutionally set times between February and May. Also see: Special Session.
The time period when legislators meet to pass bills.
Regular Session
The annual, constitutionally required session between February and May. Regular sessions cover all policy topics. Because a Legislature (as in the cohort of legislators) lasts 2 year, each Legislature’s tenure is broken into 2 sessions: First Regular Session and Second Regular Session. There is not much difference between the rules of First and Second regular sessions except carryover.
Special Session
A session that takes place outside of a regular session, often during the period between regular sessions. The Legislature or the Governor may call a special session. Special sessions are called to address one topic (such as tax rates or education funding), although it can be amended. On rare occasion, a special session may overlap with a regular session or separate special sessions such as in 2022 and 2023. Bills during special sessions are identified with an X in their bill number that corresponds with the special session number (ex: second special session bill number’s would have two X like so HB1001XX or SB10XX).
Shell bills are blank bills with little to no content. Because the Legislature has a filing deadline for new bills, legislators may submit a shell bill before the deadline as a placeholder and replace the text later with a committee substitute.
When a bill undergoes a substitute and the original language is totally removed and replaced with new language, often legislating a new idea or proposal. If a bill is shucked and replaced with a bill that did not previously advance, this is called a Zombie Bill.
The threshold to pass a bill that requires more than half of the body’s legislators who are available and active at the moment.
Legislation can only be related to one item, or “subject”. A bill to rename a highway would likely be rejected if it also addressed water quality. Committees are charged with determining whether or not a bill meets this rule, however questions about a bill’s single subject often reaches the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
Proposed laws that are decided on by the voters, not the Legislature and Governor. State questions may propose/seek new laws, amend current laws, veto/overturn laws recently signed by the governor, or amend the state constitution. State questions may be placed on the ballot by citizens through signature collection or through a legislative Joint Resolution.
Removing constitutionally required language from a bill, rendering it unable to pass. Striking allows a chamber one last look and chance to edit a bill before moving towards the Governor. Striking the Title or Enacting Clause also allows legislators to vote for a bill they may have problems with knowing they will see an edited version before the bill is finalized.
A vote threshold that requires 2/3 of legislators within their body to vote yes. Mostly associated with a veto override and emergency clause.
When the Governor rejects a bill, it is vetoed and will not become law. The Legislature can override the Governor’s veto with a super majority.
A cheeky phrase used to describe additions or edits to a bill made at the last minute in “the dead of night” and in “smoke filled rooms”.
A cheeky phrase to describe bills that “come back to life”. Occurs when bill language that had failed to move forward is substituted into a still active bill. Click here to watch a video on the process.
