As the 2026 Oklahoma legislative session moves swiftly toward its final month, the pace of activity and action has increased as legislators eye an early adjournment.
Senate and house pass state budget
A $12.82 billion state budget deal was struck during the first week of April, and the Oklahoma Senate passed the funding package on Tuesday, April 7 with the house quickly following suit on Thursday, April 10, putting the state budget on the Governor’s desk for a signature.
The constitutionally required balanced budget increased funding for education, but kept most other agency funding flat.
Oklahoma Farm Bureau joined Oklahoma State University in asking for funding for a new OSU agronomy research station, which would include an agronomy discovery center. Funding for the new facility was not included in the general appropriations of the state budget, and OKFB has been told there is a possibility funding for the station would be appropriated through a standalone bill before the 2026 session adjourns.
Bills see changes, move quickly through process
With the state budget bill moving to Gov. Stitt’s desk, OKFB-tracked bills have been moving quickly through the legislative process with several bills evolving as they work toward final legislative passage.
OKFB continues to monitor several water-related bills, and both SB 1928 by Sen. Casey Murdock and Rep. Anthony Moore; and SB 259 by Sen. Brent Howard and Rep. Carl Newton passed through house committees the week ending April 10. SB 1928 would set a five-year rolling average for groundwater usage, allowing water users to conserve their permitted groundwater use in certain years and enabling them to use more water in other years, as long as they do not exceed their allocation as averaged over a five-year period. SB 259 would institute the same five-year average as well as specifying penalties for groundwater users who do exceed their allocation.
SB 2134 also moved quickly through its assigned house committee. The bill, authored by Sen. Casey Murdock and Rep. Rande Worthen, would create procedures for humane treatment of livestock by emergency responders, tow truck operators and other responders on the scene of an accident where livestock are involved.
OKFB has been monitoring SB 2143 by Sen. Jerry Alvord and Rep. Mark Lepak, which allows county assessors to use both drone and satellite imagery to assist them in assessing property valuations of structures for tax purposes. It had been understood that the bill would allow assessors to monitor properties for new structures using the imagery, but in mid-April, OKFB learned from a bill author that they intended for county assessors to make valuation purposes based on drone or satellite imagery. OKFB will work on the bill to ensure that its language still requires county assessors to visit properties in-person to properly assess structures for tax purposes rather than solely relying on remote imagery.
HB 3403 by Rep. Kenton Patzkowsky and Sen. Jack Stewart aims to create the Oklahoma Biosolids Land Application Research Pilot Program to assess the application of sewage water treatment byproducts to agricultural land. During its hearing in the senate energy committee, the bill was amended to decrease the study’s active period from five years to three years and added a provision to enact a moratorium on the application of biosolids if the study revealed problems or concerns with the product’s application on agricultural land. If passed by the senate, the bill will need to be re-approved by the senate due to the addition of the amendment.
Legislature eyes early adjournment
With the legislative passage of a state budget for the upcoming fiscal year, OKFB expects the legislature to work quickly toward an early adjournment before the technical sine die of Friday, May 29.
OKFB’s public policy department has heard reports of adjournment as early as May 1 all the way through mid-May. If an early adjournment becomes reality, several legislative events, such as 4-H Day at the Capitol or Ag Day at the Capitol will fall near the very end of legislative session.
With an early adjournment in sight, OKFB expects the pace of session to pick up as legislators prepare to head home to their districts early for the 2026 campaign season.
