Week 6: Half-Time

Well, we’ve officially reached half-time in the legislative session. The past few weeks have definitely been more exciting than this year’s Super Bowl, and there’s quite a bit of progress we’ve made in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The House of Representatives finished the third-reading deadline for bills in their chamber of origin before noon Thursday, March 14. The House passed a total of 390 bills to the Senate. The House considered 169 measures this week, passing 167.
 
A total of 1,733 bills and 21 joint resolutions were filed in the House in advance of the filing deadline. This compares with 1,193 bills and 32 resolutions filed last year. The Senate filed 831 bills and 46 joint resolutions this year.

This week, I passed HB 2281 from the House Floor. HB 2281 is a request bill from Oklahoma Highway Patrol to add evading a law enforcement officer in the context of a felony pursuit that endangers the general public to the list of dangerous crimes. I’ve enjoyed working with Oklahoma Highway Patrol and my Senate author Sen. Michael Brooks on this public safety bill. I appreciate my colleagues for their thoughtful questions and debate on this piece of legislation. In my view, part of being an effective representative is answering tough questions and defending one’s ideas.

Overall, I passed five bills through the deadline period in the House. I’m proud that two of these bills (HB 1069 and HB 2281) are bipartisan with Democratic Senate authors. During the next few weeks, we’ll start the process again by sending our bills over to the Senate and Senate bills coming to the House for consideration. It’s even more challenging to pass legislation through this new deadline period because so many bills are oftentimes not even considered in committees.

Upon reflection, serving as state representative and now fully engaging with the legislative process has been both challenging and rewarding. I enjoy governing in an inclusive manner and emphasizing constituent outreach, and while my schedule is sometimes overwhelming, I’m reminded that I’m doing this for the Lawtonians in House District 62.

If you’re interested in receiving newsletters and updates from me throughout the legislative session, please send me your email address. I’ll also regularly update constituents through my website: http://www.danielpae.com/news

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

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