WEEK 6: PHASE TWO COMPLETE

We’ve now completed phase two of the legislative session: passing bills through their chamber of origin. Altogether, the House passed 410 bills that are now eligible to be heard in the Senate. We spent many hours on the House Floor discussing and voting on legislation that covered a wide variety of topics. 


I passed five bills off the House Floor: 


HB 1287 - adds into statute that if there is a complaint against a child care facility, the Department of Human Services shall complete this investigation within 45 days. The purpose of this legislation is to ensure that these investigations are completed in a timely manner.


HB 2846 creates the Oklahoma Kratom Consumer Protection Act.


HB 2848 adds cultural competency training on missing or murdered people to the CLEET curriculum.


HB 2860 allows school districts or individual campuses with resources for military-connected students to be designated as Purple Star Campuses.


HB 3025 increases the penalties for human traffickers.


I’m grateful that each of these bills received bipartisan support from my colleagues. I look forward to working with the Senate authors on each of these bills to get them to the Governor’s desk. 


I’m also extremely thankful to have gotten to work with my friend and colleague Rep. Carol Bush on passing HB 3028 through the House! This bill allows governmental entities, religious institutions, nonprofit organizations, for-profit companies, and tribal governments to offer harm-reduction services. 


It’s important to remember that the folks in elected office have families back at home and that we’re all doing our best to serve our constituents. Without a doubt, there’s probably a few votes I cast among the 410 bills that you disagree with, and that’s okay because as human beings, we’re all going to have different opinions and reach different conclusions on policy questions. 


I realize that this is an election year, but it’s nevertheless disappointing that social media rabble-rousers indulge in cherry-picking votes that we cast to fan the flames of partisan politics. I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat: some people only care about partisan politics; I care about Lawton. 


Finally, I’m including in this update a graphic with information on the Coronavirus Call Center. This virus is now a global pandemic, so all of must exercise extreme caution by continuously checking in on our elderly neighbors and family, washing our hands, avoiding touching our faces, and staying at home if you have Coronavirus symptoms. 


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