LEGISLATIVE COLUMN Rep. George Recounts Vetoes and the End of the Session

By Rep. John George, OK HD 36

The Legislature this week overwhelmingly overturned the governor’s veto of House Bill 1592, which creates the crime of organized retail theft. The measure authorizes a task force at the state attorney general’s office to investigate these crimes across multiple jurisdictions throughout the state.

The governor’s veto message complained that the task force had become a permanent government agency. I don’t believe this to be true, and I still see the necessity of the work of the task force in gathering and reporting information on organized retail crimes from across the state.

I’ve been working on this bill for several years now, knowing how important it is to our retailers and consumers that we crack down on this growing problem. I’m thankful fellow legislators saw this as a serious need. It will now become law.

This was the final week of the legislative session as we are constitutionally required to adjourn sine die by 5 p.m. on the last Friday in May.

What a wild week it turned out to be. We ended up staying past midnight into Friday morning as both the House and Senate considered a number of veto overrides and final measures.

One action taken was to adopt Senate Concurrent Resolution 12, which removes the commissioner of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. After a year and a half in this position, after being appointed by the governor, the commissioner has been unable to identify or right the wrongs at this agency and cannot explain a shortfall of about $30 million.

Legislators held numerous hearings with the commissioner and her staff, but we have lost confidence in her ability to identify, oversee, and manage the critical services delivered by the department she oversees. It will be up to the governor to appoint someone new, and to the Senate to confirm the appointment. We’re hopeful the next pick will have much more budgetary knowledge and leadership ability for this important agency.

We finished our session by sending a total of 527 House and Senate bills and joint resolutions to governor. The governor vetoed 68 of the measures. Both chambers voted to override 18 Senate and 29 House bills, sending these to the Secretary of State to become law.

One of the governor’s vetoes would have resulted in the dissolution of the  State Board of Cosmetology and Barbering, meaning anyone could practice these trades without a proper license. This would have created a public safety and wellbeing risk. After discussion with the governor, we were able to pass Senate Bill 676, which recreates the board, extending the sunset for one year to give the Legislature time to study the issues surrounding licensing fees and continuing education, etc. The governor has already signed this into law.

Even though our legislative session has concluded, I’ll still be at the Capitol off and on through the interim, and I’m still available. Please feel free to continue to reach out with any thoughts or concerns on legislation. I can be reached at (405) 557-7322 or at john.george@okhouse.gov.

As always, thank you for electing me to serve District 36.

Rep. John George, a Republican, serves District 36 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, which covers Cleveland and Oklahoma counties.