
From the desk of Rep. John Talley
(Oklahoma City, OK) — Over the last few days, I’ve had numerous constituents reach out to me regarding comments made by a state senator at a public forum in Tahlequah, and I want to acknowledge that what he said hurt my heart.
Though the comments were made under the guise of Oklahoma being a God-fearing state, they are not reflective of the God I know through Jesus’ example. Throughout the Gospels, the people Jesus was the most critical of were often those who believed they were “most religious.” We would do well to follow one of my favorite scriptures, Micah 6:8: “To do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”
I believe each person has value because everyone is made in the image of God, and to devalue someone is dehumanizing. I believe we should be able to disagree with others without judgment and disrespect. I always appreciate my constituents sharing their concerns with me because it’s important to dialogue on these issues.
At the State Capitol, we passed a major deadline this week and I want to overview the legislative process briefly.
Thursday was our final day to pass House bills out of committee, and any bills that weren’t passed by their committee before this deadline are considered dead for the remainder of session.
I pushed one of my bills through committee this week. House Bill 3382, which will provide funding to help ALS patients, passed the House Appropriations & Budget Committee on Wednesday. This proposal was brought to me by some friends in Stillwater. HB3382 is now eligible to be heard on the House floor.
There’s sometimes confusion about where a bill is in the legislative process. Headlines may say that a bill passed the House or the Senate, and often people will think it becomes law after that.
Since Oklahoma has a bicameral Legislature, bills have to move through both chambers before they can be signed into law. If a bill passes the House, it still has to go through the Senate, who may choose to amend it. Amended bills are returned to the House, and they’re either given a final stamp of approval or sent to conference committee, where amendments are negotiated. Once the final version of a bill has passed both the House and Senate, it finally moves to the Governor’s desk.
Our next deadline is Thursday, March 14, and this will be our last day to pass House bills off the House floor. I have several bills to present on the floor ahead of the deadline, and there are hundreds of others that I’ll have the chance to vote on!
To see what bills members are voting on each day, visit okhouse.gov and scroll down to the “Daily Floor Activities” button. This will take you to a list of the bills we expect to vote on that day, and the Floor Activities calendar is generally updated the evening before.
As always, please feel free to reach out to me at 405-557-7304 or [email protected] to discuss any bills or with any questions or concerns I may be able to assist with. Thank you for the honor of representing House District 33 at the State Capitol!