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OKLAHOMA CITY – Today the Oklahoma House passed House Bill 4420 strengthening the Strong Reader’s Act and ensuring our students can read by the third grade.  The legislation includes early identification of reading deficiencies through consistent, statewide screening; targeted intervention grounded in the science of reading; clear communication with parents about their child’s reading progress and available at-home supports; accountability measures to ensure students demonstrate reading ability before advancing to the next grade; giving 2nd graders the option of taking the state test; expanded teacher training and classroom support to improve instruction outcomes; new requirements and accountability for colleges of education preparing our state’s future teachers; a new funding formula that supports all students, while also giving additional funds to students who need more help and rewarding schools seeing growth; and creates a revolving fund to encourage public-private partnerships. “Our goal is to have the strongest reading bill in the country,” said House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow and author of the bill. “This bill is not a partisan issue - we all want our kids to read by the third grade. This legislation balances accountability with support for teachers, schools and parents, all of whom play an important role in teaching a child to read. We are taking what we have seen states like Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana do - with similar state demographics - and building upon it to make our law even stronger and unique to our students’ needs.” The legislation has received overwhelming support, largely because the statistics around Oklahoma’s reading levels are alarming. In 2015, Oklahoma students performed near the national average in reading. Today, we trail peer states by more than a full grade level. Based on Spring 2025 testing, just 27 percent of Oklahoma third graders are reading at or above grade level. “Before third grade, students learn to read. After third grade, they read to learn. When that transition does not happen, the consequences compound quickly and follow students for life,” said Hilbert. “ We want to talk about career pathways and dream jobs for our students, but our children will be perpetually underemployed if they cannot read. Oklahoma has already taken important steps, and I am proud of the work our educators are doing. But we must be honest about where our current approach falls short and make immediate shifts to ensure more of our students are reading on grade level.” The bill passed the House with a bipartisan vote of 86-6 and now moves to the Senate for further consideration. 

OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Nicole Miller, R-Edmond, has advanced legislation to strengthen maternal safety and improve health outcomes for mothers and infants across Oklahoma after House Bill 4285 passed the House with an 85-5 vote. House Bill 4285 would create the Perinatal Quality Improvement Revolving Fund within the Oklahoma State Department of Health to support initiatives in birthing hospitals statewide. "When you talk to families and health care providers, you hear the same thing, we can do better when it comes to caring for moms and babies," Miller said. "This bill would give the 41 birthing hospitals in Oklahoma the support they need to make real improvements and help more families have safe and healthy outcomes." The bill would allow the State Department of Health to partner with quality improvement initiatives and organizations across Oklahoma to address preventable maternal and infant health issues. HB4285 would focus on reducing maternal mortality and morbidity, as well as lowering rates of preventable complications and deaths among newborns and infants. The measure also would support collaboration among providers to strengthen standards of care and expand access to proven best practices. The revolving fund structure would allow the state to receive and utilize a variety of funding sources, including federal funds, grants and private contributions, helping support long-term improvements in care. HB4285 now moves to the Senate for consideration, where Sen. Christi Gillespie, R-Broken Arrow, is the Senate author.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Mike Dobrinski, R-Okeene, today passed a measure in the House that would create a two-year pilot program to expand vision screening for early childcare students. The program created by House Bill 3016 would provide additional convergence screening for students in Kindergarten through third grade in the first 30 days of the school year. The measure also would create a binocular screening revolving fund. "As we focus and emphasize our need for improved literacy across our state," Dobrinski said, "we know that many factors affect a child's ability to learn, and vision is a critical one." Dobrinski said this bill is rooted in personal experience from his own family going back about 25 years. Dobrinski explained that one of his sons was identified by his first-grade teachers as struggling. The teacher encouraged further vision testing. "Having that additional test identified a diagnosis of convergence insufficiency," Dobrinski said. "Once he received treatment, the improvement in his learning was immediate and significant. Witnessing this firsthand, showed me how standard vision screening in our public schools does not always detect issues that can lead to learning challenges. It's my hope this legislation will help more children like my son." The pilot program created by the measure would be administered by the State Department of Education and the State Department of Health. Screenings would be performed by trained professionals. The measure passed the House and now moves to the Senate where it is authored by Sen. Carri Hicks, D-Oklahoma City, a former public school teacher.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Tim Turner, R-Kinta, on Tuesday passed legislation in the House that would increase punishments for foreign terrorists or non-citizens who commit crimes in the state. House Bill 3764 would double the time and fine for individuals convicted of committing a crime who were a member of a foreign terrorist organization, as designated by the U.S. Department of Justice, at the time of the crime. Under House Bill 3765 , any non-citizen convicted of a felony would face a five year term in prison and a fine of at least $1,000. Additionally, they could be required to forfeit any land they own. "These measures put on notice anyone associated with a foreign terrorist organization or anyone illegally owning property in the state, that they will face enhanced fines, prison time and loss of their property," Turner said. "Any non-citizen in our state should either be here through legal method or be applying for citizenship through the proper process." HB 3764, titled the "Foreign Terrorist Organization Felony Enhancement Act," would provide penalty enhancements for anyone convicted of a felony offense who are proven to be a member of or acting on behalf of or supporting a designated foreign terrorist organization. The sentence would be at least twice the maximum sentence that could be imposed for a first offense, while the fine is to be at least twice the maximum fine for the underlying felony offense. HB3765 specifies that any non-citizen who unlawfully acquired title to or owns land through a business entity, trust or foreign government enterprise could be required to forfeit any land or property if convicted of a felony crime. Both bills now advance to the state Senate. HB3764 is authored by Sen. Warren Hamilton, R-McCurtain. HB3765 is authored by Sen. Avery Frix, R-Muskogee.

OKLAHOMA CITY – State Representative Chad Caldwell today voiced strong support for Gov. Stitt's recent executive order  that requires a thorough analysis of how funds are allocated and expended across school districts and school sites throughout Oklahoma. The new directive aims to increase transparency and accountability in Oklahoma’s public education system. The Executive Order requires the development of a comprehensive Oklahoma Public Schools Revenue Report to evaluate how nearly $4 billion in annual education funding is allocated and spent across the state. Caldwell said since 2018, the Legislature has increased total education funding by more than 50 percent, including teacher salaries. "Taxpayers deserve a clear, honest accounting of how their dollars are being used in our classrooms," he said. "This Executive Order is an important step toward ensuring that education funding is transparent, efficient, and ultimately focused on improving outcomes for Oklahoma students." The report will analyze key financial metrics, including revenue sources, per-pupil spending, instructional expenditures, and administrative costs. It also will examine spending efficiency across school districts and assess how resources correlate with instructional time delivered to students.  Caldwell noted that recent data presented from the Oklahoma State Department of Education underscores the importance of this effort. Despite record increases in education funding in recent years, schools are allocating a smaller share of those dollars to direct classroom instruction than they did just five years ago. On Tuesday, Caldwell passed House Bill 3711 , which would require public schools to post the percentage of funding they spend on instruction on their websites and in any bond proposals.   “One of the concerns we continue to hear is that even with historic investments in education, too little of that money is making its way into the classroom,” Caldwell said. “Transparency is the first step toward fixing that problem.”  The Executive Order directs the Secretary of Education, in coordination with the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability, to complete the report by Aug. 31, 2026. State agencies are required to provide all necessary data to support a thorough and accurate analysis. 

OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Josh Cantrell, R-Kingston, on Tuesday passed a bill in the House that would require all youth camps to conduct a site-specific hazard assessment prior to licensure or renewal and to develop an emergency action plan. The plan specified in House Bill 1675 must include response protocols for each severe weather hazard applicable to the site, evacuation routes and other items outlined in the measure. "We all watched in horror last year as a catastrophic flood took the lives of 25 young campers, two counselors and a director at a camp in Texas," Cantrell said. "In Oklahoma, we're all too aware of the threat of severe weather. Camp should be about making memories, having fun, enjoying some of the best days of your life. By having these site-specific emergency plans in place ahead of licensing, we give parents and all involved more peace of mind that campers will be taken care of in the event of severe weather. We all want camp to be the enjoyable and safe experience it's designed to be." Under the measure, youth camps would be required to maintain two independent methods of receiving severe weather alerts, an internal communication system, procedures for notifying guardians, and provide access to shelters. Potential threats of severe weather and emergency response procedures must be disclosed to all participants. Camp staff are required to receive annual emergency procedure and hazard recognition training and conduct periodic drills. A copy of the emergency action plan must be kept on file with the applicable local emergency management agency. Local emergency management agencies are authorized to adopt rules necessary to implement these provisions and can impose corrective action plans, civil penalties, and suspend or revoke licensure for material noncompliance. HB1675 advanced from the House on a vote of 91-2. It has been referred for engrossment to the State Senate where it is authored by Ally Seifried, R-Claremore.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. David Smith, R-Arpelar, on Tuesday secured House passage of a bill that would increase the services dental assistants and hygienists are allowed to perform for patients. House Bill 3934 also would expand the list of recognized accrediting agencies.  "We're attempting to fill some gaps throughout all of Oklahoma where people lack access to dentists and hygienists," Smith said. "If this bill is signed into law, it would mean people could get necessary dental care where they are instead of traveling long distances or suffering without treatment." Smith explained the bill was put together with the help of the Oklahoma Board of Dentistry, the Oklahoma Dental Hygiene Association and the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry. Among other changes, the measure would remove language that would permit a dental assistant to assist the dentist only under the direct supervision or direct visual supervision and control of the dentist. A dental assistant instead would be allowed to work under general supervision of a dentist to assist a dental hygienist with a procedures that the hygienist is allowed to perform under general supervision. The measure also seeks to update the definition of treatment facility to include a church with a non-profit clinic. In addition, the measure would allow a patient of record to be established by teledentistry for emergency or hygiene treatment if the patient is physically located at the office or facility and the dentist is not readily available. The bill passed the House on a vote of 94-1 and now advances to the State Senate where it is authored by Sen. Roland Pederson, R-Burlington.

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma House of Representatives unanimously passed the Common Cents Act, which would allow and later require certain public cash transactions to be rounded to the nearest nickel. Authored by Rep. Derrick Hildebrant, R-Catoosa, House Bill 3075 , would apply only to public payments made in cash, or the portion of a payment made in cash and would not affect private sector transactions. Payments made by check, debit card, credit card or other electronic methods would not be subject to rounding. "This is a simple, practical solution that reflects how people are already using cash today," Hildebrant said. "This idea came directly from a constituent of mine, Rogers County Treasurer Jason Carini, who recognized the need for clear statutory authority allowing state agencies and political subdivisions to round cash transactions following the discontinuation of the penny. I appreciate my colleagues for their unanimous support in moving this forward." Under the measure, political subdivisions could choose to implement cash rounding from the bill’s effective date through July 1, 2027. Beginning July 1, 2027, rounding would become mandatory for applicable cash transactions unless directed otherwise by Congress. The bill also outlines accounting provisions for ad valorem tax payments and allows political subdivisions to determine how any overages or shortages are managed within their funds. HB3075 now moves to the Oklahoma Senate for further consideration.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Rep. Mark Tedford, R-Jenks, this week secured House passage of House Bill 3047 and House Bill 3057 , a pair of measures aimed at improving transparency, organization and efficiency of state agency reporting to the Legislature. House Bill 3047 requires state agencies to submit statutorily required reports electronically to the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency (LOFT), which will create and maintain a centralized online system to track and store those reports.  Under HB3047, LOFT will index required reports, track whether they’ve been submitted and notify lawmakers when reports are available, making it easier to access important information in one place.  House Bill 3057 works alongside HB3047 by eliminating outdated and functionally obsolete reporting requirements currently in statute. In many cases, the reports are tied to programs that no longer exist, creating unnecessary work for agencies.  "Right now, reports can be hard to track down because they’re spread across different places," Tedford said. "That slows things down. At the same time, we’ve got agencies spending time on reports tied to programs that don’t even exist anymore. These bills clean that up, put everything in one place and help us focus on the information that actually matters."  Tedford said the measures are a practical step toward modernizing state processes without adding cost to taxpayers.  "We’re not reinventing the wheel here," he said. "We’re just using the tools we already have to bring some order and accountability to the process. It’s a simple fix that will save time and improve transparency for both lawmakers and the public."  The measures have no anticipated fiscal impact and can be implemented using existing staff and resources.  HB3047 and HB3057 now move to the Senate for further consideration. Senate authors are Dave Rader, R-Tulsa, for HB3057 and John Haste, R-Broken Arrow, for HB3047.