Carl's Capitol Comments
Redistricting in final stretch
November 3, 2021
The Legislature will convene in special session Nov. 15 to finalize the redistricting process.
Legislative and congressional districts, by law, must be redrawn every ten years following the U.S. Census. This year, due to Covid, census data was delayed until August. Our state constitution requires the Legislature to adopt a legislative redistricting plan in the session following the Census. To accomplish that this year, we used American Community Survey Five-Year Estimates for 2015-2019. Once we received finalized Census data, however, we saw many of our districts were outside the margin of error, so those district boundaries have been adjusted. The updated boundaries will be voted on in special session.
Our state constitution does not set the same timeline for congressional district boundaries to be approved, so we are waiting until special session to vote on these. Over the summer, we held a series of in-person and virtual town halls to get public input into the process. We also took public map submissions through Oct. 10. We had a similar process for public input into legislative district boundaries.
Also during special session, we will vote to amend candidacy residency and registration deadlines for the upcoming election cycle. This is necessary because statute requires 2022 House and Senate candidates to have been a resident of the district for the six months preceding the first day of filing, which in 2022 is April 13. Candidates would have needed to be a resident of the district in which they intend to file by Oct. 13. That date falls before redistricting is complete, so the adjustment is needed.
On a separate note, a public proposal submission web portal is now open to receive ideas and projects for the receipt and spending of the $1.9 billion the state will receive in pandemic relief funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Those wishing to learn more can visit https://oklahoma.gov/arpa.html.
The Legislature has established a bipartisan joint committee and working groups to evaluate submissions.
Money can be used to support the public health response to the pandemic; to respond to negative economic impacts, such as premium pay for essential workers, to cover revenue loss and investments in infrastructure to meet critical needs; and to improve existing infrastructure such as water, sewer and broadband infrastructure; in addition to other needs for households, small business, schools, state, local and tribal governments.
Once ideas and projects are received, analyzed and validated for meeting federal qualifications, the joint committee will send final evaluations and recommendations to a steering committee made of House, Senate and executive branch leaders with final approval made by Gov. Stitt.
ARPA funds must be allocated for specific projects by December 2024 and expended by December 2026.
Counties, by the way, will receive almost $769 million; cities almost $316 million and smaller communities more than $238 million.
On a final note, it's worth mentioning that the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority met several weeks ago, approving emergency rules to take effect Nov. 1.
The new rules are in keeping with the provisions of House Bill 2646, passed during the 2021 legislative session, which touches on practically every aspect of Oklahoma’s medical marijuana industry.
Among other things, the new rules clarify the required distance between marijuana facilities and schools, grandfathering in certain establishments, including those in existence before the establishment of a nearby school. The rules also touch on testing requirements and clarifying that electronic documents can be used for inspections.
As always, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. You may reach me by email at [email protected], or phone me at 405-557-7339. May God Bless you and the State of Oklahoma.
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