Legislative update: Full 2022 regular session recap

Introduction

In an eventful conclusion to the 2022 Regular Session, Gov. Kevin Stitt allowed the substantial majority of SB 1040, the $9.8 billion general appropriations bill, to become law without his signature. However, Gov. Stitt vetoed several tax relief bills passed by the Legislature, including the $75 rebate to individuals and $150 to couples filing jointly, and the elimination of the 1.25% tax on vehicle sales. Stitt also called a special session for the legislature to consider reducing the state’s income tax and eliminating the sales tax on groceries.

Legislators returned to the Capitol last week to consider overriding several of the governor’s vetoes and then adjourned Sine Die. Previously, the Legislature also called a special session to take control of distributing $1.87 billion in federal stimulus funds that were previously under the control of Gov. Stitt. The Legislature is expected to return to the Capitol in the summer or early fall to appropriate funds for that purpose.

This final edition of the 2022 Greater OKC Chamber Business Advocate encompasses major actions that occurred on Chamber priority issues including: 1) protecting key economic development incentives; 2) protecting the rights of businesses to determine and implement polices on employee vaccinations without government interference; 3) uniting with Chamber members to oppose Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) legislation that would have significantly increased prescription drug costs for self-insured companies and employees; 4) stopping data privacy legislation; 5) protecting the rights of business owners and event hosts to prohibit firearms; 6) partnering with City of OKC and other entities to pursue American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for various projects; 7) protecting funding for the Heartland Flyer and ODOT’s eight-year plan; 8) pursuing federal funding to extend passenger rail service from OKC to Newton, Kan.; 9) obtaining targeted higher education funding to produce additional teaching, nursing and engineering degrees; and, 10) passing legislation to improve mental health in schools statewide. This report also includes a recap of candidate filings for the upcoming elections.

Economic Development Incentives Protected, Expanded

Each year, the Chamber works to protect the state’s primary economic development incentive programs from being repealed or scaled back. The previous two sessions have featured efforts to scale back the Oklahoma Quality Jobs Act (QJA) and repeal the five-year ad valorem exemption for new and expanding manufacturing facilities. These programs have been on the Chamber’s “critical” list of necessary incentive programs for more than a decade and are fundamental to economic development victories. This year, we anticipated a renewed effort to disadvantage the state’s metro areas from competing for projects; however, that did not occur and the QJA and the five-year ad valorem exemption, as well as other key programs, were fully protected.

Gov. Stitt and legislative leadership focused on making Oklahoma more attractive for large business investments by expanding state incentive offerings. House Bill 4455, the “Mega-Projects” bill, was signed into law by Gov. Stitt after easily passing the House and Senate. The legislation will provide an estimated $700 million incentive, on top of other state and local incentives, designed to attract a multibillion-dollar investment in northeast Oklahoma and create 4,000-6,000 jobs. The Chamber joined with the Tulsa Regional Chamber and State Chamber to support this legislation. Additionally, HB 4456 created the Progressing Rural Economic Prosperity Fund; HB 4464 appropriated $250 million to that fund. While the parameters of the fund aren’t fully clear, it is designed to upgrade the state’s rural industrial parks to attract large-scale investment.

Businesses Protected from Burdensome Vaccine Mandates

As the 2022 session began, COVID-19 continued to pose a substantial threat to public health in Oklahoma. The political controversy over vaccines and the level of state opposition to the federal mandate in place when the session began – which mandated businesses with more than 100 employees require all employees get vaccinated, tested weekly or face substantial fines – resulted in more than 50 vaccination bills being introduced. Many of those bills would have been punitive towards companies requiring employees to be vaccinated as a condition of employment. In a major win for the business community, however, all legislation interfering with an employer’s authority over employee vaccinations did not advance.

Costly PBM Legislation Recalled from Governor’s Desk

Costly and regulatorily burdensome legislation regarding Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), which threatened to significantly raise health care costs for self-insured Oklahoma employers and employees, was favorably resolved in the final days of the session. Many self-insured Oklahoma businesses contract with PBMs to control prescription drug costs.

Senate Bill 1860 by Sen. Greg McCortney (R-Ada) and Rep. Marcus McEntire (R-Duncan) was passed by the House and Senate and awaited action on the governor’s desk. Along with several other groups, the Chamber requested that Gov. Stitt veto the legislation. In a surprising turn of events on April 21, a provision within SB 1860 was determined to conflict with a recent Oklahoma federal court ruling (PCMA v. Mulready) and was recalled by the Legislature from the governor’s desk. Following the recall, the Legislature did not pursue additional PBM legislation this session giving the business community a rare win on this problematic issue. 

Damaging Data Privacy Legislation Fails to Advance

For the second year, costly and burdensome data privacy legislation failed to advance. Several Chamber telecommunications companies were strongly opposed to HB 2969, the Oklahoma Computer Data Privacy Act, by Reps Collin Walke (D-Oklahoma City) and Josh West (R-Grove). After passing the House on March 23 by a vote of 74-15, this measure was not heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee and, therefore, did not advance this session.

Apart from the excessive costs of complying with this measure, businesses are currently faced with a patchwork of state laws that are increasingly expensive and difficult to navigate. Passage of a punitive law in Oklahoma would have only added to this tangle of regulatory uncertainty and confusion.

Chamber Successfully Opposes Firearms at the State Fair, Other Gun Measures

The Chamber opposes legislation that would negate the ability of a business owner or event host (concerts, sporting events, horse shows, etc.) to prohibit attendees from carrying firearms into the business or event. Most gun-rights expansion bills do not reach an elevated level of concern but those that do require dedicated advocacy efforts to stop them from becoming law. To push back against irresponsible gun-rights expansion, the Chamber formed Oklahomans for Business and Property Owner Rights, a group of approximately 50 associations, businesses, educational institutions and law enforcement organizations, to oppose gun legislation that would negate property owner rights and jeopardize public safety. This has been a successful approach as several concerning gun measures failed to advance this session.

Among the more than 50 gun-rights expansion bills was legislation to allow guns on college campuses, and HB 4138 authored by Rep. Sean Roberts (R-Hominy), to allow firearms to be carried into the Oklahoma State Fair and Tulsa Fair. Those bills were stopped however, and the session ended successfully without passage of harmful gun legislation.

Chamber Supports City of Oklahoma City’s ARPA Requests

The federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) provided Oklahoma with $1.87 billion, along with guidance that the funding be available for projects to benefit all Oklahomans. The Chamber worked with City of OKC staff and other entities in navigating the state’s ARPA process in support of several of its multimillion-dollar funding requests, including infrastructure improvements at Tinker AFB and the State Fairgrounds. This included key meetings with lawmakers and executive branch personnel.

While the process was initially organized to provide the governor ultimate authority in distributing the funds, that changed considerably when the Legislature voted to go into special session and assume primary decision-making authority over which ARPA requests will receive funding. While Gov. Stitt still has an important seat at the table for ARPA decisions, the Legislature will now review ARPA requests in legislation subject to the regular appropriations process. As a result, the Legislature will have the ability to override the governor’s veto of specific ARPA projects. The Chamber will continue to work with the City of OKC, other entities and the state in pursuit of funding for central Oklahoma projects.

ODOT Eight-year Plan Fully Funded

To fully appreciate the impact of maintaining adequate transportation funding, a motorist would be well-advised to drive to and from downtown Oklahoma City through the new I-235/I-44 interchange to observe this time-saving engineering marvel. The FY 2023 State Budget protects funding for the eight-year plan by providing $590 million to the Rebuilding Oklahoma Access and Driver Safety (ROADS) fund. This innovative policy ensures priority needs are calibrated with available resources, while removing politically directed projects from the equation. The importance of the eight-year plan to our region is further reflected by the considerable number of major OKC area projects currently in the plan. 

Chamber Helps Protect Heartland Flyer, Supports Reconnecting Passenger Rail from Oklahoma City to Newton, Kan.

Senate Bill 1488 by Sen. Nathan Dahm (R-Broken Arrow) would have eliminated $2.85 million from the state’s passenger rail revolving fund, ending the Heartland Flyer passenger rail service between Ft. Worth, Texas, and Oklahoma City. The Chamber worked with ODOT and the State Chamber to ensure SB 1488 was not heard in the Senate Finance Committee. SB 1488 could not have been filed at a more disadvantageous time considering the opportunity for Oklahoma to secure part of the record $66 billion in federal passenger rail funding included in the federal infrastructure bill (IIJA) to extend the Heartland Flyer north to Newton, Kan., and connect with Amtrak’s national network. Of this amount, an estimated $36 billion is available to corridors outside the northeast United States. This extension would link OKC with Kansas City, St. Louis and Chicago, including the Southwest Chief and additional points across the nation.

In a recent Chamber meeting with Amtrak representatives, the question was asked: How can the Chamber be most impactful in attempting to restore a passenger rail between OKC and Newton, which hasn’t seen service since 1979? Amtrak’s response: Send a letter of support from Oklahoma chambers of commerce located from north to south along the Heartland Flyer route to the U.S. Department of Transportation. The Chamber prepared the letter, obtained endorsements from eight chambers of commerce along the route and established united chamber support for ODOT’s effort to secure passenger rail funding and include the “northern extension” in the Federal Rail Administration’s “Corridor Development Plan.”

The Chamber extends its appreciation to the following chambers of commerce for supporting this effort: State Chamber of Oklahoma, Ponca City Chamber, Guthrie Chamber, Edmond Area Chamber, Norman Chamber, Del City Chamber and Ardmore Chamber. The Chamber also appreciates the dedicated support of ODOT and Amtrak in pursuing this important objective.

Education Funding Increased, Including Targeted Funding for Higher Education

K-12, CareerTech and higher education all saw funding increases in the final budget. The State Department of Education received its largest appropriation ever with a 5% increase at $3.2 billion. The Department of Career & Technology Education saw a 2.45% increase to $142 million, and the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education (OSRHE) garnered a significant 7.45% increase to $873 million.

The Chamber was supportive of increased funding to address specific workforce needs including teachers, nurses and engineers, all of which were addressed by the Legislature:

• Teachers: The Oklahoma Future Teacher Scholarship program, HB 3564 by Rep. Mark McBride (R-Moore), received $17.4 million to address the growing teacher shortage. The new program will provide $5,500 scholarships for students pursuing teaching degrees, then $20,000 to graduates during their first five years in teaching.
• Nursing: The effort to address the nursing shortage received $55 million from the American Rescue Plan Act. The funds will go to 21 higher education institutions to expand their nursing programs.
• Engineers/STEM: The Chamber has been calling for increasing the number of engineering graduates by 3,000 engineers annually for the next decade. This year, the Legislature provided the OSRHE with $11.5 million for increasing graduates with engineering or STEM-related degrees. Additionally, the OSRHE budget includes approximately $60 million that is designated to be spent on “workforce.” Those funds will be allocated to colleges and universities

Legislation Enacted to Improve Student Mental Health Statewide

The Chamber has worked closely with the OKC Schools Compact to create EmbraceOKC to address increasing mental health needs of OKC Public Schools students. We supported HB 4106 by Rep. Mark Vancuren (R-Owasso) that will make EmbraceOKC a statewide model for all school districts. HB 4106 was signed into law by Gov. Stitt. 

Oklahoma Candidate Filing Concludes

The three-day filing period to run for federal, state and local office this year was April 13-15. The following is an overview of what this year’s election cycle landscape looks like:

Federal: U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, who continues to serve Oklahoma in Washington, D.C., is stepping down at the end of this year. A total of 13 Republicans, one Democrat, one Libertarian and one Independent filed to run for Inhofe’s seat. Among the Republicans running are Congressman Markwayne Mullin, Sen. Inhofe’s former Chief of Staff Luke Holland, former Speaker of the Oklahoma House T.W. Shannon and former State Senator and EPA Director Scott Pruitt. Former Fifth District Congresswoman Kendra Horn is running as the sole Democrat in the field.

U.S. Sen. James Lankford is also up for reelection. He faces a primary election against Jackson Lahmeyer, a pastor from Tulsa, and Joan Farr, an attorney from Tulsa. Six Democrats, one Independent and one Libertarian are also running. Sen. Lankford is expected to win the primary and general election.

Congressman Mullin’s run for U.S. Senate created an open seat in the Second Congressional District, which encompasses most of eastern Oklahoma. Fourteen candidates are running in the Republican primary, including several current legislators: Rep. Dustin Roberts (R-Durant); Rep. Avery Frix (R-Muskogee) and Sen. Marty Quinn (R-Claremore).

Congressman Frank Lucas, Congresswoman Stephanie Bice and Congressman Tom Cole all have Republican primary opponents but are strongly campaigning and expected to be reelected.

Statewide Office: Gov. Kevin Stitt drew three Republican primary opponents and two Democrats, including State Superintendent for Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister who switched parties, as well as one Libertarian and one Independent. Gov. Stitt is expected to win reelection to a second gubernatorial term.

Each statewide office holder drew at least one opponent except for Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready (R-Tulsa).

The Oklahoma Attorney General race between incumbent AG John O’Connor (R-Tulsa) and attorney and businessman Gentner Drummond (R-Hominy) is expected to be hotly contested and decided in the Republican primary.

State Legislative Elections: All 101 House seats and 24 of 48 Senate seats are up for election this year. Fifty-three legislators were reelected outright when no one filed to oppose them.

Two Republican candidates running in open seats will take office: Mark Tedford in Tulsa’s House District 69, who will replace Rep. Sheila Dills after she chose to not seek reelection, and Jerry Alvord in Ardmore’s Senate District 14, who will replace term-limited Sen. Frank Simpson.

Ten legislators reached their 12-year term limit and could not seek reelection. Two state senators and six representatives chose to not run for reelection. 

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.