WEEK 15: PERSEVERING FOR LAWTON

Last week, the legislature was in session Monday through Friday voting on a number of policy bills. The final two days culminated in marathon floor sessions that lasted over 12 hours. We’ll come back this Friday to officially adjourn sine die (a Latin phrase that means “without a day for future meeting”) and potentially vote to override vetoes from the Governor. 


Indeed, we ended up overriding four of the Governor’s vetoes on Wednesday evening. I’ve written a separate post about the significance of these veto overrides. Whether it’s this vote or any other conclusions I’ve reached on the myriad of bills we’ve voted on, you may disagree with my final decision, and that’s absolutely fine. Because we’re human beings, we’re not going to agree 100% of the time, but I’m more than happy to talk with you about my thought process and logic on policy issues.


HB 3350 was one of the most significant piece of legislation that passed through the legislature last week. This bill will finally give a cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) to our state’s retirees. The compromise agreement consists of those who have been retired for less than two years not receiving a COLA, those who have been retired between two to five years receiving a 2% COLA, and those who have been retired more than five years receiving a 4% COLA. I hope the Governor signs this bill immediately.
 
Overall, we spent the past two weeks legislating what would normally be two months’ of work. The COVID-19 pandemic made this year’s legislative session a highly unusual one. On the other hand, addressing the crisis led to cooperative relationships between the two political parties and two legislative chambers.


I will now focus my time and energy on constituent services. There are quite a few emails, messages, and calls that I need to catch up on. Please continue to communicate with me if there’s anything I can do to help, particularly if you need assistance filing for unemployment insurance. #PerseveringForLawton has been my top priority, and I’ll continue to do my absolute best to help Lawtonians in #OKHD62.


As always, I can be reached via email at daniel.pae@okhouse.gov and phone at 405-557-7374.