Oklahoma's three largest Chambers announce joint legislative agenda

The State Chamber, the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber and the Tulsa Regional Chamber (Chambers) unveiled a joint legislative agenda ahead of the 2022 Oklahoma legislative session.

The agenda covers state issue areas and details specific policies agreed upon by the Chambers related to economic development, education, health care and transportation.

“The business community is ready to make bold changes toward addressing some of the core problems holding Oklahoma’s economy back,” said Chad Warmington, president and CEO of The State Chamber. “We look forward to working with our partners at the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, the Tulsa Regional Chamber and the Oklahoma Legislature on finding policy solutions for these overarching issues,” Warmington continued.

The agenda includes traditional business priorities such as improving workers’ compensation reform legislation; criminal justice reform; and economic development initiatives.

“Strengthening the state’s premier economic development programs is critical to attracting new businesses to the state, helping existing companies to expand, and encouraging investment in communities across the state,” said Roy Williams, president and CEO of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber.

A new area of focus on the joint agenda is driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. The business community has kept Oklahoma’s economy afloat throughout the pandemic, and the Chambers oppose actions that would limit employers’ ability to set workplace vaccination policies. Additionally, while Oklahoma’s unemployment rate ranks among the lowest in the country, the Chambers aim to build a better pipeline of future workers through policies that address career readiness, certification and teacher recruitment.

The Chambers will also support policies this year that ensure access to health care, through the recruitment and retention of health professionals in rural and underserved areas and continued implementation of expansion of Medicaid.

“The Chambers all agree when Oklahomans have adequate access to healthcare, it benefits everyone, from a healthy workforce to better quality of life for all,” said Mike Neal, president and CEO of the Tulsa Regional Chamber. “We will push for important changes to boost our workforce in Oklahoma, not only for the health care field, but for a number of industries where we see critical shortages of engineering and IT professionals.”

All three Chambers will advocate for reforms reflected on the joint agenda at the Oklahoma State Capitol during the 2022 session. To view the full agenda, click here.