Alva Review-Courier -

It's bill-killing time in the Legislature. Of the 381 House bills and joint resolutions sent to the Senate, 284 have made it through committee and are now on General Order, meaning they are eligible to be considered on the Senate floor.

The House, meanwhile, received 327 measures from the Senate and advanced 271 out of committees. The next two weeks will be busy as we consider much of this legislation on the House floor.

We still have until April 22 to consider bills in the House Appropriations & Budget Committee, and we will be considering some measures in the Joint Committee on Appropriations & Budget.

Now that policy bills are through the committee process, I'll be working with Senate authors on my bills to modify anything needed before the bills come to the floor for a vote. The same will be happening with bills I'm carrying for senators.

This points to the importance of finding an author from the opposite legislative chamber who is as invested in your bills as you are. A lot of times, lobbyists and others with an outside interest will wait until a bill leaves the hands of its principal author to attack it. It's kind of like sheltering your child and teaching them your values, then they leave home to enter the wide world to be buffeted by every other wind of doctrine.

I'm thankful I have Senate authors that care about my bills as much as I do. I understand modifying language through committee and floor amendments if an issue arises, but it's important to keep the original intent of the bills intact. Some bills that get amended in the opposite chamber come back so drastically altered they're unrecognizable from the original intent of the legislation.

Last week was election filing at the State Capitol for state and congressional elected offices. The vast majority of the legislators up for election received challengers. I fortunately did not draw an opponent in House District 58, so I am honored to get to represent Northwest Oklahoma for another two years.

Just a reminder that district boundaries change after the November election to reflect the most recent Census population counts. I welcome those constituents I will pick up in Garfield County, but I'm sad to be losing some people from the northwest part of Woodward County. I enjoyed representing those in this area and will miss serving them.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me. You may reach me by email at [email protected], or phone me at 405-557-7339. God Bless you and the State of Oklahoma.