What are the biggest issues facing the Oklahoma Legislature this year?

Feb. 1—Oklahoma lawmakers return to the state Capitol on Monday with a sizeable to-do list and the uncertainty that comes with legislating during a pandemic.

After the COVID-19 pandemic complicated the 2020 legislative session, state lawmakers are poised to kickoff the four-month 2021 session with renewed energy.

Lawmakers filed a record-breaking amount of legislation — more than 3,000 bills and resolutions — for the 2021 legislative session.

Typically less than 20% of the bills filed make it to the governor's desk.

Here's a look at some of the top issues lawmakers will tackle this year.

Pandemic politics

Mask mandates, COVID-19 vaccines and pandemic-inspired business closures are top of mind for state lawmakers as they attempt to address the impacts of the worst health crisis in recent history.

Lawmakers filed a slew of bills related to the COVID-19 pandemic. At this point, it's not clear which bills will go the distance, but it's obvious legislators will be discussing the pandemic at length.

As for how the nearly 150 members of the Oklahoma Legislature will meet during the pandemic? It won't be business as usual.

Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, and House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, recently unveiled COVID-19 precautions to keep legislators, staffers and Capitol visitors safe this session.

But the threat of a COVID-19 outbreak at the Capitol looms large and has the potential to upend the normal flow of legislative business.

Medicaid expansion

State lawmakers will be tasked with coming up with roughly $164 million to pay for the state's share of Medicaid expansion.

After voters narrowly passed State Question 802 last year, Oklahoma will cover 10% of the costs of the expansion and the federal government will pick up the other 90%.

Intertwined in the discussion of Medicaid expansion, a fight could be brewing over Gov. Kevin Stitt's plan to partially privatize Oklahoma's Medicaid program.

Stitt wants to outsource care for more than 700,000 Medicaid recipients, including those who will be covered by the expansion, to four for-profit health insurance companies through what is referred to as a managed care model. But Stitt's plan to privatize much of the state's Medicaid program will come with a roughly $2 billion price tag and faces pushback from some members of the Legislature, who will be tasked with appropriating funding for the Medicaid overhaul.

A supporter of managed care, Senate Majority Floor Leader Kim David on Friday dismissed legislative opposition to the governor's proposal.

"Constitutionally, we have to fund the expansion population, so there's no doubt that we will absolutely fund this," said David, R-Porter. The passage of SQ 802 enshrined Medicaid expansion in Oklahoma's constitution, meaning state lawmakers must fund the expansion.

Oklahoma will expand Medicaid to cover an estimated 200,000 additional low-income adults on July 1. The Oklahoma Health Care Authority, which oversees Medicaid, aims for the managed care changes to take effect Oct. 1.

Initiative petition reform

After the passage of Medicaid expansion last year, GOP legislative leaders say they're open to altering the state's initiative petition process to make it harder for citizens to amend Oklahoma's constitution.

Republican lawmakers met the call with numerous bills to make it harder for initiative petitions to pass.

Some lawmakers have proposed increasing the percentage of votes required to pass initiative petitions above the current threshold of a simple majority. Others have proposed legislation to impose geographical requirements on signature-gathering or vote majorities.

The Legislature cannot unilaterally change the initiative petition process. Because the process is enshrined in Oklahoma's constitution, legislators would have to get voters' approval to change initiative petition requirements.

Virtual public meetings

At the top of legislators' to-do list is fast-tracking legislation to let public bodies resume meeting virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Senate Bill 1031 would reinstate an exception to the Open Meeting Act to let public bodies meet via teleconference or videoconference so long as the governor's emergency declaration in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is in effect.

Legislative Democrats and many local government leaders called for the Legislature to hold a special session to address the issue back when the previous virtual meeting exemption expired in November. Legislative leaders have assured the public the issue is high on their priority list.

"Your virtual meetings legislation will be on the governor's desk shortly," House Majority Floor Leader Jon Echols, R-Oklahoma City, said at a recent public forum.

Redistricting

The Oklahoma Legislature will be tasked with approving new congressional and legislative district boundaries this spring through the once-a-decade redistricting process.

Lawmakers likely won't get population figures from the U.S. Census until April, but they're already preparing to draw new districts. Legislators and redistricting staff just completed a series of town hall meetings to take redistricting questions and comments from across the state.

Both the House and Senate have formed redistricting committees, and the public is encouraged to remain engaged throughout the process.

Treat and McCall have vowed redistricting efforts will be open, transparent and include widespread citizen input throughout. The public will also be able to submit their own recommendations for new maps once Census data is released this spring.

Election changes

With the high-profile 2020 presidential election in the rearview mirror, Oklahoma lawmakers prefiled numerous election-related bills this year.

Some seek to make it easier to register to vote or cast a ballot. Some bills seek to restrict voting.

After some early voters found themselves waiting in line for hours to cast their in-person absentee ballots in the days leading up to the Nov. 3 election, some lawmakers want to extend the time period for early voting. Lawmakers have also filed bills related to mail-in ballots, which a record number of Oklahomans used last year.

House Elections and Ethics Chairman Rep. Jim Olsen, R-Roland, said it's too soon to tell which election bills will get a hearing in his committee.

As for if legislators filed more election bills than in previous years, Olsen said he wouldn't be surprised if that was the case because of the whopping number of bills lawmakers filed this year and because elections have been a hot topic as of late.

The Oklahoma Legislature will adjourn by 5 p.m. on May 28.

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