This past week in the House of Representatives was nonstop work on the House floor hearing and voting on multiple bills.
Wetookmore than an hour one day to discuss, question and debate a measure about shopping carts. You can’t make this stuff up.
I was fortunate that two of the measures I authored this year passed the floor this past week and now move to the Senate. Here’s a brief look at each bill.
House Bill 1662 would add a layer of transparency, requiring the Oklahoma Corporation Commission to report annually to the speaker of the House and the president pro tem of the Senate any dealings they’ve had with the Southwest Power Pool (SPP).
This nonprofit regional transmission organization is mandated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to ensure reliable supplies of power, adequate transmission infrastructure and competitive wholesale electricity prices on behalf of its members, including Oklahoma. It’s important that lawmakers be given accurate information and be able to report back to our constituents any interaction the SPP has with our own Corporation Commission, which is charged with regulating fuel, oil and gas, public utilities and transportation industries in our state. Anything that could affect the price of our utilities should be made very clear to us, and this report will help.
This measure passed unanimously in the House. It’s authored by Sen. Casey Murdock in the Senate. He’s an assistant majority whip in that chamber with years of legislative experience, so it’s in good hands.
House Bill 1666 is negotiated language between county governments and the pipeline industry to allow counties to grade existing roads and work on bar ditches as long as they are not changing the initial grade. This is not for new construction.
The Senate author on this bill is Sen. Avery Frix who is vice chair of Aeronautics and Transportation. Sen. Frix used to be in the House.
Another bill I co-authored also passed unanimously in the House this past week.
House Bill 2144 would codify existinginsurancebadfaithlawand provide doctors the right to enforce in court an insurance company’s obligations to pay for Oklahoman’s needed medical care.
An example was given of a patient who was in the middle of a surgery to remove cancer. The surgery had been pre-authorized by the insurance company, but once the company realized the cost, they pulled the pre-authorization. You can only imagine the distress this caused the patient, their family and the doctors performing the surgery.
This would allow a jury to award additional damages to the insurer in such a case in the hopes it would prevent something like that happening again. This legislation is supported by the medical doctors of Oklahoma and the State Medical Association. It’s being carried in the Senate by Sen. Darrell Weaver who is the chair of that chamber’s Public Safety Committee.
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.