The calendar has flipped to 2025 and that means there are new laws that took effect on January 1. Some of the new laws are aimed at voting while others focus on finances.
Representatives Ajay Pittman and Jared Deck coauthored House Bill 1629. It is a bill that clarifies that some convicted felons could be eligible to register to vote.
To have the eligibility, the felon must have received a commutation that reduced the sentence of any active felony conviction to time served and how no other outstanding sentence under any felony conviction, have received a commutation for a crime that was reclassified from a felony to a misdemeanor with no remaining time to serve or have been granted a pardon pursuant to federal or state law and have no other outstanding sentence under any other felony convictions.
Mark Faulk of the People’s Council for Justice Reform said this law was a giant leap in the right direction.
“There wasn’t a single vote on either side of the aisle against this bill, so I think at least maybe that means we now have an appetite for beginning to do real changes in the criminal justice system moving forward,” Faulk said in an interview.
He also said he believes this law is the first step to justice reform.
House Bill 2872 is focused on creating the Out-of-Network Ambulance Service Provider Act. This bill establishes rules and procedures for anybody who needs to pay for ambulance care when the provider is not in their network.
House Bill 3190 was authored by multiple representatives and is the Ensuring Transparency in Prior Authorization Act. This bill requires insurance companies to post online requirements for prior authorization of medical treatments and use licensed medical professionals for the decisions on where to deny care or not.
A bill known as Corinne’s Law was coauthored by Amanda Swope, Ellen Hefner, David Bullard and Jessica Garvin. Senate Bill 1334 ensures that patients who are facing fertility loss due to cancer are able to preserve their fertility before undergoing treatment. Senator Ally Seifried said she believes the bill is important for anyone facing the issue.
“I learned that most patients have about ten to 14 days to kind of decide how they want to move forward, so it’s really beyond the emotions of the diagnosis. You have a lot of logistical decisions to make and so I think that’s why this bill is really important because it is requiring the fertility preservation because you’re losing fertility due to your cancer treatment.,” Seifried said in an interview.
Senate Bill 1401 is geared toward tax credits. It is a housekeeping bill that amends some language in Section 1, Chapter 340 of Oklahoma Statutes about tax credits.
Senate Bill 1429 focuses on finance. It changes the revolving fund previously used for the Oklahoma Department of Treasury’s McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System (MKARNS) to the Oklahoma Ports Infrastructure Revolving Fund (OPIRF). The Department of Transportation monies can either be allocated to MKARNS or to the state waterway ports.
Senate Bill 1457 also has multiple co-authors and is focused on first responders. Law enforcement, firefighters and EMTs can receive workers’ compensation for mental illness or injury as well as physical injuries.
Mark Nelson, president of the OKC Fraternal Order of Police said this bill is an important step and has been needed for quite some time.
“The things that we see and deal with on a daily basis have a profound effect,” Nelson said in an interview. “It allows our members to get treatment generally consolidated into like a counseling or some type of medicine and hopefully get them back on the job, able to continue their career.”