The House will hold its biennial Organizational Day on Jan. 7.
The state Constitution requires eachnew Legislature to hold this day to organize for thetwosessions over which members will preside.
IntheHouse, we will vote to accept the official election returns for the general election held Nov. 5, 2024. While all House members have been sworn into office already, this final act means we officially will be seated and can drop the term elect from our representative title.
We next will vote as a full body to elect the speaker and the speaker pro tem of the House. The majority caucus already voted for Rep. Kyle Hilbert, a Republican from Bristow, to serve as speaker, and Rep. Anthony Moore, a Republican from Clinton, to serve as pro tem. But this final vote by the full body makes it official.
Then, we will adopt rules by which we will operate as a body for the two sessions of the 60th Legislature.
These are formalities, but it keeps us operating according to state law.
Also planned for this month are a series of agency performance reviews and budget request hearings. Each of the ten Appropriations & Budget subcommittees will host a day or more of hearings with the agencies under their purview. This gives committee members a chance to hear how appropriated dollars were spent during the current fiscal year and to hear an explanation of funding requests for the next fiscal year.
I’m on the A&B Transportation Committee. We will hear from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, the Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics and the Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority.
The full A&B Committee also will hold hearings in the House chamber for the six agencies that receive the largest amount of state appropriated dollars.
Thesemeetingsaremandatedby state statute and give the public an opportunity to hear transparently how tax dollars are spent.
The dates for these hearings will be released soon, and all of the meetings are open for the public to attend in person or watch on our House website, okhouse.gov.
Remember, if I can help you with anything, please do not hesitate to reach out: (405) 557-7383 or Josh. Cantrell@OKHouse.gov.
Josh Cantrell serves District 49 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. His district includes Love County and parts of Carter and Marshall counties.