We had a long and productive week last week at the Capitol. Representatives have completed their House committees for now and we’ve spent each day on the House floor voting on bills. This week, we heard 163 bills, but that still leaves 380 House bills that are eligible to be considered before the Thursday, March 23, deadline.
I passed five of my bills through the House during the week, three of which I presented.
House Bill 2359 would establish guardrails to ensure that companies participating in the wind industry recycling space have some level of accountability when it comes to recycling the blades or other components in a timely manner.
The average life span of a wind farm is about 25 years before facilities and components need to be repowered. As we see more wind blades needing to be replaced with newer ones, the recycling industry is starting to develop in Oklahoma and around the country. This is a proactive effort to stay ahead of curve in Oklahoma and hopefully set a standard that other states may replicate as the industry continues to evolve and expand.
Last year, I authored legislation creating a working group to examine whether municipalities under 2,500 people should be allowed the option of choosing a biannual audit or continuing with their annual audits. The group worked together over the interim to draft the new procedures presented in House Bill 2362, which will provide more transparency and accountability in smaller municipalities than we’ve had in the past auditing procedures.
My third bill passed Monday was House Bill 2360, which streamlines the process of obtaining a certificate of convenience and necessity (CCN) from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) to provide telecommunications services.
Currently, the process requires notice to be sent by USPS mail to all political subdivisions in the company’s requested territory, which may be much larger than their intended service area. With more than 1,200 political subdivisions in Oklahoma, the actual mailing and printing cost can exceed $5,000 for each application. HB2360 allows municipalities, cities, and towns located in the company’s requested territory to register with the OCC to receive notice of the application by email.
My other two bills which passed last Tuesday. House Bill 2358 would exempt school districts from class-size penalties if a district exceeded class-size limits because it accepted the mandatory transfer of children in foster care and military dependents. This would take effect beginning in the 2023-2024 school year.
The changes to open transfer that we implemented in 2021 require school districts to accepts students in foster care or from military families, regardless of the school’s capacity. This has caused some class sizes to exceed capacity, leading to penalties for school districts despite being in accordance with the open transfer law. HB2358 would eliminate these penalties for school districts if caused by open transfer laws.
My fourth bill was House Bill 1982, which cleans up legislation approved in 2022.
Last year, Senate Bill 1325 transferred responsibility for setting Oklahoma Water Quality Standards (WQS) from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) to the Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
One section of SB1325 transferred the primary responsibility for a biennial report on state water quality monitoring from OWRB to DEQ, but a separate section of the bill left this responsibility with the OWRB. HB1982 reconciles the two statutory sections by clarifying that DEQ has the duty to prepare the biennial water quality monitoring report.
We have another couple of long weeks ahead of us before we begin hearing Senate bills, and I’ll share any of my other bills that pass the floor or anything else of interest.
As always, I hope you reach out with any questions or concerns on legislation. You can contact me at 405-557-7405 or at brad.boles@okhouse. gov. Thank you for the honor of representing you at the State Capitol. God bless.
