2021 Sine Die

From the Desk of the Executive Director

This year’s session was one for the record books. It saw more than it’s fair share of excitement. After a decade of effort, we were successful in moving Public Safety District legislation across the finish line and signed by the Governor. This effort was truly a team effort and will provide an option for steady public safety funding for municipalities statewide. As we progressed through the COVID-19 outbreak the legislature responded with a number of COVID-19 derived pre-emption bills. While all had noble pursuits, many had unintended consequences for local governments. OML was successful at working with authors to modify and eliminate the local control issues in these bills. Other successes are outlined in this report ranging the spectrum from water and resource policy, marijuana law, and local governance to name a few.

The Sine Die is OML’s annual report featuring a legislative wrap-up of the bills that were enacted, defeated and vetoed. You will be able to access the full bill content in this report by clicking on the bill number. Sometimes the most challenging task is working to defeat bad legislation, but with your quick action alerting your legislators, OML was successful in doing just that on several pieces of legislation which are also included in this report. One of the most popular features of the Sine Die report continues to be the section that provides a breakdown by municipal department and the bills that may impact that department.

In an organization the size of the Oklahoma Municipal League, there will often be different views of issues by our members. One of the roles of the Legislative Committee is to direct the League in making decisions on issues and the course of action to take. This brings great weight and importance to this committee. All legislative committee recommendations are forwarded to the OML Board. As the policymakers of the League, the OML board will consider for approval the recommendations from the Legislative Committee. Thanks to our Chair Joan Riley and Vice Chair Jane Abraham as well as every member of the OML Legislative Committee; your tireless efforts and contributions this past session are valuable and much appreciated.

We will continue our efforts to communicate effectively with legislators, mayors, city managers, councilmembers, clerk-treasurers, and all other municipal officials to ensure continued success. It is important to stay in contact with your local legislators during the interim and continue to communicate the municipal message.

Together we provide a strong voice for Oklahoma municipalities. The number one ingredient for success at the legislature and state agencies is a united collective municipal voice. Thank you so much for your efforts to make this another successful legislative session.

Sincerely,
Mike Fina
Executive Director