Alva Review-Courier -

Session officially kicked off this past week with Gov. Mary Fallin's State of the State address on Monday.

She outlined her budget goals for the upcoming fiscal year and told the Legislature what she'd like to see happen with agencies' budget requests. It's important to remember that Gov. Fallin's requests don't always align with those of the Legislature's. The next several months will include lots of negotiating to arrive at the final budget for Fiscal Year 2018.

In addition to the budget, lawmakers will also look over hundreds of House and Senate bills. On the House side, most lawmakers can only file eight bills. Each bill is electronically filed with the Chief Clerk's office and then assigned a number.

Every House bill receives First and Second Readings. Then the Speakers will assign the bills to a committee or add it directly to the calendar.

Not every bill is heard in committee. If it is placed on the committee's agenda, though, lawmakers hear an explanation and then they can amend parts of the bill's language. Eventually, the committee members vote on the bill. If it does not get the number of votes needed, the bill fails. If committee members vote to pass the bill, it goes to General Order to be possibly scheduled for a hearing on the House Floor.

The Majority Floor Leader then decides which bills are given hearings on the Floor. It follows a similar proceeding to the committees but on a larger scale. The bills can be amended and debated and ultimately voted upon. It then receives its Third Reading and final passage vote. If it does not pass, the bill fails. If members vote to pass the bill, it proceeds to the Senate where it undergoes another committee hearing and Floor vote.

If the bill is returned to the House without. any amendments, it goes straight to Gov. Fallin's office, where she can veto, pocket veto, or sign the bill. A pocket veto simply means the governor does not sign it for 15 days, and it therefore doesn't become law.

If a bill does have amendments, the House can concur with the Senate amendments and vote to pass it immediately or members can refuse to concur with the amendments. In that case, the House would request a conference with the Senate.

If a conference is granted, the bill could receive a Conference Committee Report. If it doesn't receive a CCR, it dies. If a CCR is filed and the Floor Leader schedules the bill on the Floor, members can once again vote to adopt the report on the bill. If adopted, the bill goes back to the Senate.

If the Senate also adopts the report, the bill goes to the governor's office where she can veto, pocket veto, or sign the bill.

There are a lot of steps in the process, but the ultimate goal is to make Oklahoma a safer, more prosperous state. I'm confident we'll be able to accomplish that this session.