2020 LEGISLATIVE SESSION OVERVIEW The Second Session of the 57th Legislature convened on Monday, February 3, with Governor Kevin Stitt giving his second State of the State address. Lawmakers filed more than 2,300 new bills and joint resolutions prior to the start of session. These joined nearly 2,000 carryover bills from the 2019 legislative session. This resulted in more than 1,100 pieces of legislation with municipal impacts on our tracking lists to begin this session. February was an outstanding month for OML’s priority bills. Nine pieces of legislation requested by the League passed in their committees with several being heard and passing on the chamber floor weeks before their deadlines. However, in mid-March, following the COVID-19 global pandemic, the legislature came to a multi-week halt. On March 17, the last day the legislature met before adjourning to the Call of the Chair in both chambers, the House and Senate passed an extremely important bill for public bodies. SB 661 by Sen. Brent Howard (R-Altus) and Speaker Charles McCall (R-Atoka) temporarily amends the Oklahoma Open Meetings Act in order to allow boards, commissions, and other groups the flexibility to conduct meetings by teleconference or videoconference in order to comply with the CDC recommendation that no more than ten (10) people can gather at this time. The Legislature reconvened briefly under special protocols on Monday, April 6 in special session to approve the Catastrophic Health Emergency Powers Act. This gave Governor Stitt unprecedented authority to help fight the pandemic in Oklahoma. When the legislature met again in special session on May 5, these powers were extended to May 30, 2020. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, very few bills continued through the legislative process in May. Less than 200 bills made it to the Governor’s desk, which is a steep decline from the nearly 600 bills he signed last year. There was a shared disappointment amongst many organizations that many good bills did not receive the necessary hearings to gain the Governor’s approval. HB 1992, the bill that would create Public Safety Districts, was no exception. Even though we received feedback from 31 of the 47 Senators that they would vote for the bill, leadership ultimately decided it would not make the list of bills to be considered this year. We will continue to work throughout the legislative interim to build support for Public Safety Districts in 2021. In response to concerns from our members regarding the budgeting statute requiring municipal governments pass an annual budget in these fiscally uncertain times, OML worked quickly with the legislature to provide a solution. SB 187 by Sen. John Montgomery (R-Lawton) and Rep. Zack Taylor (R- Seminole) was passed nearly unanimously in both chambers and signed by the Governor on May 20. With an emergency clause on the bill, the Municipal Government COVID-19 Emergency Budget Act went into effect that day. We are tremendously grateful to the legislature and Governor for their quick action on this important legislation. There were many twists and turns during the limited days the legislature did meet in May. Multiple bills sent to the Governor’s desk were vetoed this session, with nearly a dozen of those receiving enough votes in the House and Senate to override those vetoes. Pursuant to the provisions in SCR 12, the Second Regular Session of the 57th Legislature was adjourned on Friday, May 29 at 5:00 p.m. 6 © 2020 Oklahoma Municipal League, Inc. Bills Successfully Stopped OML continues to be recognized at the State Capitol as the unified voice of Oklahoma municipal governments in shaping policy and safeguarding local control. Throughout this session, there were numerous bills filed attempting to preempt local control and hinder vital revenue sources including sales tax exemptions, residential building design preemption, oil and gas takings, workers’ compensation for emergency responders, and more. Nearly 130 bills that we actively opposed were halted in the legislative process. Here are just a few that were successfully stopped: HB 2150 by Rep. John Pfieffer (R-Mulhall) and Sen. Mark Allen (R-Spiro) creates a taking whenever a municipality, county, or political subdivision other than the Corporation Commission adopts or implements an ordinance, resolution, rule, regulation, or other form of official policy concerning oil and gas operation as described in the bill. This includes substantially interfering with the use and enjoyment of the mineral estate, imposing or enforcing a limitation that adversely impacts the use and development of minerals, or prohibits access to develop the mineral estate, thereby substantially reducing the fair market value of the mineral estate. This does not apply to any ordinance, resolution, rule, regulation or other forms of official policy adopted or implemented prior to December 31, 2014. This bill was a carryover from the 2019 session. OML created a working group comprised of municipal officials from communities with high volumes of drilling activity as well as oil and gas representatives. Throughout the legislative interim, the working group continued to meet. Education tours of drilling and production sites led to open communication and a better understanding of both sides’ positions. In 2019, this bill passed in the House, received a do pass recommendation in the Senate Judiciary Committee (title stricken) with a vote of 6 – 5. Due to the hard work of this group, HB 2150 was not heard on the Senate floor this year. HB 2271 by Rep. Josh West (R-Grove) and Sen. Darrell Weaver (R-Moore) modifies situations in which mental injury or illness is a compensable workers’ compensation injury to include police officers, firefighters, EMTs or any employee of an emergency service who is likely to be among the first people to arrive at and assist at the scene of an emergency. This bill passed quickly through the House. OML met with the House and Senate authors to request this bill not move forward until more research is done on the issue. Numerous meetings took place in the legislative interim and throughout the legislative session this year. This bill did not receive a Senate hearing this year. We will continue the dialogue with all stakeholders in this legislative interim to reach an agreement on language for next year. HB 3152 by Rep. Ryan Martinez (R – Edmond) failed by a vote of 6 – 9 in the House Business and Commerce Committee on February 26. This bill would prohibit a municipality or county from regulating design elements of a single-family residential building unless certain conditions were met. HB 3397 by Rep. Marcus McEntire (R-Duncan) and Sen. Chris Kidd (R-Addington) creates the Municipal Utility Oversight Act. Included in its provisions is the creation of a utility review board appointed mostly by district judges. The Board has jurisdiction over complaints and will hold hearings, including allowing evidence regarding errors or discrepancies in the utility bill. There are provisions for service not to be cut off, and if the Board holds for the customer, the determination is final with no right to appeal. If the municipality prevails before the utility review board, the parties will go to the governing body and present 7 © 2020 Oklahoma Municipal League, Inc. their case with the decision made concluding the matter. There are also requirements for utility bills, methods for computing the bill, and meter reading regulation including required tests. This bill passed in the House by a vote of 90-4. We asked that this bill not be considered in the Senate, and it died for lack of a hearing. SB 1102 by Sen. Rob Standridge (R-Norman) and Rep. Kevin West (R-Moore) modifies the Catastrophic Health Emergency Powers Act by removing local officials’ authority during a catastrophic health emergency to provide treatment to affected individuals from the population at large. The Governor during a catastrophic health emergency is given the authority to grant local officials’ certain defined authorities. It adds language to protect civil liberties while ensuring public safety. The membership of the Oklahoma Catastrophic Health Emergency Planning Task Force is amended to add several members. It requires the Governor to notify the Legislature of requested powers prior to a catastrophic health emergency declaration. The Governor must state the requested powers he or she is seeking under an extended catastrophic health emergency. The State Election Board must promulgate emergency rules, not subject to the Administrative Procedures Act to ensure election integrity while protecting public health. This bill was filed near the end of session and narrowly passed the House with a vote of 53-44. After communicating the detrimental impact of this legislation for municipal governments, Senate leadership refused to hear the bill on the floor. 8 © 2020 Oklahoma Municipal League, Inc. EFFECTIVE DATE OF BILLS There are four ways that a bill can go into effect. If the measure has only an emergency clause, it will go into effect upon the Governor’s signature. However, if a bill has an effective date, the new law will go into effect on the date declared in the bill. If there is no effective date or emergency clause included, the law automatically becomes effective 90 days after Sine Die adjournment. If the bill has an effective date and an emergency clause, as do most appropriation measures, it will go into effect on the effective date. If the bill says “not codified,” these sections of law do not require permanent inclusion in state statutes, such as appropriations sections or matters of a limited-time nature. 9 © 2020 Oklahoma Municipal League, Inc. HOUSE BILLS OF MUNICIPAL INTEREST THAT PASSED Eminent Domain: HB 1048 by Rep. Danny Sterling (R-Tecumseh) and Sen.