Legislative update: Chamber works to protect economic development as session passes first deadline

The 2022 Legislative Session began on Feb. 7 when Gov. Kevin Stitt delivered his fourth State of the State address. In his remarks, Gov. Stitt announced his plan to make Oklahoma the most pro-business state in the country. The plan includes meeting workforce needs by ensuring our students are college or career ready, making $13 billion in major infrastructure investments over the next decade, and, delivering taxpayers more for their money through increased government efficiency and performance.

This session, approximately 2,300 bills and joint resolutions (1,482 House bills, 18 joint resolutions; 774 Senate bills, and 23 joint resolutions) were filed by Oklahoma lawmakers. In addition, nearly 2,475 bills were carried over from the 2021 session that are also available to be considered. The 2022 Legislative Session began with Republicans holding an 82-18 majority in the House (with House District 89 open) and a 39-9 majority in the Senate.

The Oklahoma Board of Equalization met on Feb. 22 and certified $10.4 billion in revenue available for the FY 2023 budget. This represents a $167 million increase over the December 2021 projection, which was the first time in state history a state budget projection exceeded $10 billion. These historic numbers demonstrate considerable growth in state tax collections, driven by robust gross production taxes due to higher oil and gas prices, as well as higher collections of state income, sales and use taxes.

This update, which encompasses activity occurring through the first deadline week, March 3, focuses on several issues the Chamber has engaged on at the State Capitol.

Chamber Seeks to Protect and Enhance Economic Development Incentives

As an economic development organization, the Chamber utilizes state incentive programs that assist in the recruitment of new companies and helping existing companies grow. Each session, we seek to protect a targeted list of incentives that provide a strong return to taxpayers. At the top of this list is the Oklahoma Quality Jobs Program (QJP), the state’s premiere incentive program.

Legislation was introduced last session seeking to encourage more economic development in rural Oklahoma by raising the QJP’s average wage threshold for projects to qualify in the state’s metro areas. Although the legislation did not pass the Senate, the Chamber expects a similar effort to occur this year.

The Oklahoma Department of Commerce is pursuing legislation to position Oklahoma to compete for new economic development opportunities and industries. The Chamber is supportive of these efforts, including:

SB 1482: by Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat (R-OKC) and Speaker Charles McCall (R-Atoka), that provides a tax credit and other incentives for an establishment creating at least 1,000 new direct jobs and invests at least $750 million in qualified depreciable property in Oklahoma.

SB 1707: by Sen. James Leewright (R-Sapulpa), that would allow 21st Century Quality Jobs recipients, under certain conditions, to transfer their establishment to QJA or small employer QJA Programs.

HB 3081: by Rep. Kyle Hilbert (R-Bristow), that would create a Strategic Industrial Investment Tax Credit.

HB 3688: by Rep. Kevin McDugle (R-Tulsa), that would include the manufacturing of special, custom-order items under state manufacturer sales tax exemptions.

Sign up for legislative alerts at okcbusinessadvocate.com.

Chamber Remains Engaged in Protecting Rights of Business and Property Owners

Almost 50 measures were introduced this session to expand the rights of gun owners. Many of those bills did not advance past the March 3 legislative deadline. The Chamber, which leads the Oklahomans for Business and Property Owners Rights coalition of approximately 50 businesses, universities, and law enforcement associations, is engaged in protecting the rights of business and property owners to prohibit firearms from being carried onto their premises, if they so choose.

House Bill 4138 by Rep. Sean Roberts (R-Hominy) would allow firearms to be carried onto the fairgrounds and in buildings of the fairgrounds that are open to the public during the Oklahoma or Tulsa state fairs, and in city, town and county buildings that are not used for public meetings under the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act. This measure passed the House Criminal Justice and Corrections Committee 4-1 on Feb. 17. The Chamber opposes this bill.

Chamber Opposes Vaccine Mandates

The Chamber’s position on vaccine mandates is: “The Chamber supports allowing each company/business to determine whether to mandate vaccinations for its employees.” Each company is unique in terms of number of employees, culture, type of work, geographic location and other variables; therefore, we believe each business should have the flexibility to implement its own policy.

More than 50 vaccine-related bills were introduced this session. Many of these did not advance past the March 3 deadline, including SB 1095 by Sen. Jake Merrick (R-Yukon), which would have prohibited companies from requiring the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment. Two concerning bills remain alive, however:

• SB 765 “The Privacy Protection Act” by Sen. David Bullard (R-Durant) and Rep. Kevin West (R-Moore), passed the Senate Appropriations Committee on March 3 by a narrow 7-4 vote. SB 765 requires any public or private employer to provide a privacy exemption form for an employee or contractor to refuse to disclose their vaccination or immunization status and releases the employee from an obligation to disclose due to an employer-mandated policy or regulation.
• SB 1128 “The Employee Liberty and Freedom Act” by Sen. Blake “Cowboy” Stephens (R-Tahlequah), passed the Senate Appropriations Committee by a 6-4 vote in Senate Appropriations Committee on March 3. SB 1128 makes it unlawful for any corporation to require a COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of employment, while exempting those receiving federal funds who must comply with regulations. This bill is a straightforward mandate that would tie the hands of employers on administering their own vaccination policies.

Chamber Helps Defeat Onerous Election Bills in Committee

The Chamber partnered with the City of Oklahoma City to defeat several election bills which, if enacted, would have limited the ability to pass local economic development initiatives such as MAPS and local bond issues. Rep. Denise Crosswhite Hader (R-Yukon) filed a series of problematic bills involving local elections. Two of her measures, HB’s 3234 and 3236, were of most concern to the Chamber and were placed on the House Elections and Ethics Committee agenda, where each failed to receive a second motion to be brought to a committee vote and, therefore, will not advance this session. Following is a summary of these measures:

HB 3234: This bill would have prohibited any election held by any municipality or county (among other political subdivisions) authorized to call elections from being valid unless 40% of active registered voters vote in the election.

The goal of the bill, according to the author, was to have more people vote in fewer elections. Forty percent represented an extremely unrealistic voter threshold, which would likely result in virtually all elections being invalidated.

HB 3236: This bill would have required any question proposed in an election held by a municipality or county (and several other political subdivisions) to achieve a 60% share of the vote for the candidate or initiative to be elected/re-elected/or pass.

In the Chamber’s long experience of running campaigns on behalf of the city and county, 60% is an extremely high vote threshold to attain. In fact, under this proposal, two of the four transformative MAPS campaigns (1, 3) would have failed. Additionally, Mayor Holt, who was recently re-elected in a race that featured the highest turnout in an OKC mayoral election in 60 years, barely fell below the 60% threshold.

HB 3153: Another troubling measure, by Rep. Kevin West (R-Moore), which would have changed the election calendar and disadvantaged the ability of local governments to hold elections on a strategic basis, was assigned to House Rules Committee and re-assigned to the Elections and Ethics Committee. It was not considered by either committee.

Chamber Supports Targeted Higher Education Funding

Multiple bills are aimed at providing funds or direct support to help produce workers with in-demand degrees and/or skills. The Chamber is supportive of this approach to address growing workforce needs. The two key bills, HB 4196 by Rep. Jon Echols (R-Oklahoma City) and SB 1627 by Sen. Adam Pugh (R- Edmond), will create a new revolving fund that will be used to direct appropriations to fund certain degree programs and/or institutions.

The Chamber supports additional funding to produce engineers, health care workers and teachers. Both HB 4196 and SB 1627 passed committee and moved on to the House and Senate floor.  

Chamber Supports Programs to Improve and Protect Student Mental Health

During the past four years, the Chamber has worked closely with the OKC Schools Compact to create EmbraceOKC to address the increasing mental health needs of Oklahoma City Public Schools students. The OKC Schools Compact includes the Chamber, United Way of Central Oklahoma, City of Oklahoma City, The Foundation for OKC Schools and Oklahoma City Public Schools.

EmbraceOKC was created because of the high level of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Oklahoma City children face and the COVID- 19 pandemic increased the number of ACES and trauma. Embrace OKC includes regular and intensive assessment of student needs. It has intensive training of teachers and staff that includes focus on social-emotional needs of students.

SB 1442 by Sen. Shane Jett (R- Shawnee) could have dramatically impacted EmbraceOKC by eliminating any program related to social-emotional learning. The legislation was assigned to the Senate Education Committee but was not heard. Additionally, the Chamber is supporting HB 4106 by Rep. Mark Vancuren (R-Owasso) that will make EmbraceOKC a statewide model for all school districts. HB 4106 passed out of both the House Appropriations, Health sub-committee and full House Appropriations and Budget Committee.

Chamber Helps Stop Legislation Threatening Heartland Flyer Passenger Rail

Legislation was introduced this session, SB 1488 by Sen. Nathan Dahm (R-Broken Arrow), that would have eliminated $2.85 million in state funding for the Heartland Flyer passenger rail connecting Oklahoma City with Fort Worth, Texas. Without this funding, the Heartland Flyer would no longer be able to operate passenger rail service. The Chamber joined with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, City of Oklahoma City, and the State Chamber to oppose this legislation, which was double assigned to Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee. After successful lobbying efforts, SB 1488 was not heard in Senate committee before the March 3 deadline.

With $66 billion in federal funding available for passenger rail included in the recently passed Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act (IIJA), the future of passenger rail in Oklahoma is at a historic crossroads. A northern extension, supported by our Chamber and many rural communities, would connect us with Newton, Kan.; Kansas City; St. Louis; Chicago; and points all along Amtrak’s national network. Furthermore, the opportunity to be further connected to the I-35 megalopolis (San Antonio – Kansas City), one of the nation’s top five economic development corridors, must be protected. The Chamber has played a lead role in the creation of the Central Oklahoma Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) which is seeking to build commuter rail (Edmond – OKC – Norman). Losing passenger rail could also forfeit opportunities to super-charge that effort.

Members of Chamber’s Executive Committee Hold Roundtable Discussion with Governor Kevin Stitt

The Chamber hosted a meeting between several members of the Chamber’s Executive Committee and Gov. Kevin Stitt and several members of his staff. The purpose of the discussion was to hear from Gov. Stitt on his agenda and share the Chamber’s top legislative priorities with him. Topics of discussion included economic development incentives, vaccine mandates, education, business/property owner rights, criminal justice reform and transportation.

Members of Chamber’s Executive Committee Hold Roundtable Discussion with Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat

The Chamber also hosted a meeting between members of the Chamber’s Executive Committee and Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat (R-OKC), who invited the following Republican senators to participate: Sen. Greg McCortney (R-Ada); Majority Floor Leader; Sen. Roger Thompson (R-Okemah), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee; and Sen. Julie Daniels (R-Bartlesville), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The goal of this conversation was to hear from Pro Temp Treat about the top priorities of his caucus for this session and share the Chamber’s legislative priorities with Senate Republicans. Topics of discussion included economic development incentives, vaccine mandates, education, business/property owner rights, criminal justice reform and transportation.

Chamber Hosts Legislative Kick-Off Event Featuring Panel Discussion with Key Legislators

The Chamber hosted Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat (R-OKC), Senate Democratic Leader Kay Floyd (D-OKC), House Majority Whip Tammy West (R-OKC), and House Democratic Caucus Chair Cyndi Munson (D-OKC) for a panel discussion moderated by Chamber Chairman Sean Trauschke. This discussion was attended by several hundred Chamber members at the Embassy Suites on Northwest Expressway.

Panelists did an excellent job answering questions regarding vaccine mandates; potential opportunities for $1.87 billion in ARPA (American Rescue Plan) funds the State of Oklahoma has received; Oklahoma’s Quality Jobs Act; medical marijuana legislation; and education.

Chamber Hosts Gov. Stitt and Sec. of Transportation Gatz for “State Spotlight” Event

The Chamber hosted Gov. Kevin Stitt and Oklahoma Sec. of Transportation Tim Gatz for a “State Spotlight” Event. Gov. Stitt made remarks and took questions to update attendees on his vision for Oklahoma’s opportunities and challenges to becoming a top ten state and national model for economic development. Sec. Gatz participated in a moderated conversation with Chamber Chairman Sean Trauschke to detail Oklahoma’s ongoing efforts and vision to create a world-class, multi-modal transportation system.

LEARN MORE ABOUT CHAMBER PRIORITIES

Earlier this year, the Chamber released its 2022 Public Policy Guide, an annual publication that includes a full listing of the pro-business priorities that the Chamber will pursue at the Capitol. The guide also includes contact information for elected officials at the federal, state and local level. Read the guide at www.okcchamber.com/ppg.

For more information, please contact Mark VanLandingham.  

The Chamber will advocate on behalf of its members at the State Capitol throughout the 2022 legislative session in pursuit of making Oklahoma a top ten state for economic development. Read the full list at OKCChamber.com/legislative. To stay informed of these efforts, sign up for alerts at okcbusinessadvocate.com.

For more information, please contact a member of our Government Relations or Education staff.