Oklahoma lawmakers prefiled almost 3,100 bills and joint resolutions for the first session of the 59th Legislature, which gavels in Feb. 6.
This year’s total includes 1,116 Senate bills, 18 Senate joint resolutions, 1,901 House bills and 44 House joint resolutions. Those measures will now be assigned to committees in their chambers of origin, with committee chairs generally given the power to decide which are taken up and which are not.
Joint resolutions are similar to bills but are rarely used for anything except legislative referenda placed on statewide ballots. These are usually constitutional amendments, which must be submitted to a vote of the people, but occasionally legislators will send a proposed change in statute to the ballot voluntarily.
Oklahoma Senate and House of Representatives rules require that most bills and joint resolutions be filed before the start of the session. This year’s deadline was Thursday.
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There are exceptions to the prefiling rules. The House speaker and the Senate president pro tem can introduce bills anytime, as can some of their chief lieutenants. Budget and appropriations bills generally are not filed until near the end of the session.
A large share of House bills — more than 400 this year — are shell bills, which means they contain no substantive language. These are essentially spares to address issues that may develop during the session, although in some cases shell bills are placeholders for planned legislation that misses the prefiling deadline.
Shell bills are put into play with committee or floor substitutes that replace pro forma language with the actual legislation.
The Senate does not allow shell bills but has more liberal rules concerning amendments.
Unlike the U.S. Congress — and the Senate — House rules require that amendments be germane to the bill’s original subject. So multiple House shell bills are filed for all 93 titles and subtitles of the Oklahoma Statutes.
Of the near 3,100 bills prefiled, most will be sidelined in less than a month and only about 400 will eventually make it into law.
Because the Legislature operates on a fixed timeline, gaveling in on the first Monday of every February and adjourning no later than the last Friday in May, it sticks to a strict succession of deadlines. This, too, is unlike the U.S. Congress.
The first deadline is March 3, when bills and joint resolutions that have not been passed from committees in their chambers of origin are considered dormant. Because this is the first year of a two-year legislative cycle, those bills can be brought back next year except for those voted down on what is called “final action.”
A negative final action also bars other measures on the same subject from being heard during the two-year legislative cycle, so committee and floor votes are rarely taken unless the author is confident of the outcome.
Joined by his youngest daughter Jackie and wife Christine, Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler speaks at the Tulsa Police Department Wednesday about Oklahoma’s mental health crisis, which he calls a “gaping wound” that the state legislature needs to prioritize more. Kunzweiler was allegedly stabbed by one of his daughter during a mental health crisis in his home Tuesday afternoon, police said.
Tulsa-area state legislators and how to contact them
Sen. Nathan Dahm
DISTRICT 33
Sen. Nathan Dahm (R)
Hometown: Broken Arrow
District area: South and east Tulsa County
Phone: 405-521-5551
Sen. Jack Stewart

DISTRICT 18
Sen. Jack Stewart (R)
Hometown: Yukon
District area: Wagoner County; also includes small part of Broken Arrow and some of Tulsa
Phone: 405-521-5590
Sen. Dana Prieto

DISTRICT 34
Sen. Dana Prieto (R)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Owasso and northern Tulsa County
Phone: 405-521-5566
Email Sen. Prieto
Sen. Jo Anna Dossett

DISTRICT 35
Sen. Jo Anna Dossett (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: South and central Tulsa
Phone: 405-521-5624
Sen. John Haste

DISTRICT 36
Sen. John Haste (R)
Hometown: Broken Arrow
District area: Eastern Tulsa County, western Wagoner County
Phone: 405-521-5602
Email Sen. Haste
Sen. Todd Gollihare

DISTRICT 12
Sen. Todd Gollihare (R)
Hometown: Kellyville
District area: Creek County
Phone: 405-521-5528
Sen. Kevin Matthews

DISTRICT 11
Sen. Kevin Matthews (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Northern Tulsa, southeast Osage County
Phone: 405-521-5598
Sen. Joe Newhouse

DISTRICT 25
Sen. Joe Newhouse (R)
Hometown: Broken Arrow
District area: South Tulsa, Bixby, Broken Arrow and Jenks
Phone: 405-521-5675
Sen. Dave Rader

DISTRICT 39
Sen. Dave Rader (R)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Central and south Tulsa
Phone: 405-521-5620
Sen. Cody Rogers

DISTRICT 37
Sen. Cody Rogers (R)
Hometown: Tulsa
District Area: West Tulsa County
Phone: 405-521-5600
Rep. Meloyde Blancett

DISTRICT 78
Rep. Meloyde Blancett (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Midtown Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7334
Rep. Jeff Boatman

DISTRICT 67
Rep. Jeff Boatman (R)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Southeast Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7341
Rep. Amanda Swope

DISTRICT 71
Rep. Amanda Swope (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Brookside in Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7361
Rep. Suzanne Schreiber

DISTRICT 70
Rep. Suzanne Schreiber (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Midtown Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7359
Email Rep. Schreiber
Rep. Dean Davis

DISTRICT 98
Rep. Dean Davis (R)
Hometown: Broken Arrow
District area: Elm Place in east Broken Arrow, east to 248th East Avenue
Phone: 405-557-7362
Rep. Mark Tedford

DISTRICT 69
Rep. Mark Tedford (R)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Jenks, Bixby and Tulsa between those cities
Phone: 405-557-7331
Rep. Scott Fetgatter

DISTRICT 16
Rep. Scott Fetgatter (R)
Hometown: Okmulgee
District area: Okmulgee County and the southeastern tip of Tulsa County
Phone: 405-557-7373
Rep. Ross Ford

DISTRICT 76
Rep. Ross Ford (R)
Hometown: Broken Arrow
District area: West Broken Arrow
Phone: 405-557-7347
Rep. Regina Goodwin

DISTRICT 73
Rep. Regina Goodwin (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Downtown and northwest Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7406
Rep. Kyle Hilbert

DISTRICT 29
Rep. Kyle Hilbert (R)
Hometown: Depew
District area: Westernmost Tulsa County, Creek County
Phone: 405-557-7353
Rep. Mark Lawson

DISTRICT 30
Rep. Mark Lawson (R)
Hometown: Sapulpa
District area: Sapulpa, Mounds, southwest Tulsa County
Phone: 405- 557-7414
Rep. T.J. Marti

DISTRICT 75
Rep. T.J. Marti (R)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: East Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7356
Rep. Stan May

DISTRICT 80
Rep. Stan May (R)
Hometown: Broken Arrow
District area: Southeast Tulsa County; small section of southwest Wagoner County
Phone: 405-557-7338
Rep. Monroe Nichols

DISTRICT 72
Rep. Monroe Nichols (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Southeast corner of Inner Dispersal Loop to Owasso; also includes Turley and Sperry
Phone: 405-557-7391
Rep. Clay Staires

DISTRICT 66
Rep. Clay Staires (R)
Hometown: Skiatook
District area: Sand Springs, west Tulsa between Arkansas River and Osage County line and Riverview
Phone: 405-557-7390
Rep. Terry O’Donnell

DISTRICT 23
Rep. Terry O’Donnell (R)
Hometown: Catoosa
District area: Catoosa, east Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7379
Rep. Melissa Provenzano

DISTRICT 79
Rep. Melissa Provenzano (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: East and southeast Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7330
Rep. John George

DISTRICT 36
Rep. John George (R)
Hometown: Newalla
District area: Southeast Osage County, northern Tulsa County
Phone: 405-557-7322
Rep. Lonnie Sims

DISTRICT 68
Rep. Lonnie Sims (R)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: West Tulsa County from the bend of Arkansas River down to Glenpool
Phone: 405-557-7340
Rep. John Kane

DISTRICT 11
Rep. John Kane (R)
Hometown: Bartlesville
District area: Bartlesville, north Tulsa County including Collinsville
Phone: 405-557-7358
Rep. Mark Vancuren

DISTRICT 74
Rep. Mark Vancuren (R)
Hometown: Owasso
District area: Suburban Owasso
Phone: 405-557-7377
Rep. John Waldron

DISTRICT 77
Rep. John Waldron (D)
Hometown: Tulsa
District area: Northeast Tulsa
Phone: 405-557-7410
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