THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS AND ADVOCACY

1. THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS AND ADVOCACY Presented to NASW-OK Chapter March 10, 2011 by Sandra Benischek Harrison Coordinator, Office of Legislative Relations and Policy Oklahoma Department of Human Services

3. The Oklahoma Legislature

4. Membership • The Oklahoma Constitution states that the State Senate has 48 members. • The number of members in the House of Representatives is based on Oklahoma’s population and established through a formula in the Oklahoma Constitution. The number of members in the House of Representatives is currently 101.

5. Effective Advocacy • Creating a bill starts with an idea. • Research your idea and be able to support your idea. • Each bill must have one legislator in each house as its author. • Seek a cross section of sponsors for your bill. • Select authors who are members of the committee that will hear the bill. • Pick sponsors who are willing to work hard to promote the bill and who are knowledgeable about the issue.

6. Effective Advocacy • Bills are assigned to committees for action. All meetings are open to the public. • Before the Hearing: • Write letters, make phone calls, make personal visits to all members of the committee, especially the chair. • Contact other legislators, lobbyists, or public officials (including the governor) who might influence the committee.

7. Effective Advocacy • Before the Hearing (continued): • Organize a coalition of other organizations. • Have each legislator contacted by a resident of her/his district. • At the Hearing: • Attend. Be quietly conspicuous by wearing a button, sticker, or T-Shirt indicating your support or affiliation. • Testify, if possible.

8. Effective Advocacy • Contact all legislators when the bill is on general order before the full House or Senate. • The full House or Senate will debate the bill. • Provide fact sheets, detailing your opinions as facts • Give your opinions on whatever amendments were attached by the committee or are contemplated on the floor of the House. • All members of the coalition need to make similar contacts with the legislators.

10. Effective Advocacy • If the bill makes it to the Second House, you will be the eyes and ears of each principal author by advising her/him of the action taken in the other house and its committees.

11. Effective Advocacy • If the House and Senate are not in total agreement about the bill they will form a Conference Committee. • Contact the chair of the committee. • Being an influence is still possible, but don’t overpower the committee members – messages to the legislators can be very effective. • Use sound judgment here. • Providing information to conferees is the most effective technique at this stage. • Once the bill leaves the Conference Committee the bill goes back to each house for vote.

12. Effective Advocacy • After a bill passes both houses your attention should focus on the Governor. • All members of the coalition need to make this contact. • The Governor needs to hear from all parts of the state your organization represents concerning this bill. • KEY NOTE: This shouldn’t be your first contact with the Governor. Contact should have been made when the bill was first introduced.

13. Effective Advocacy • Implementation and Monitoring • The bill is not effective unless it is enforced. • Determine which agency will be responsible for enforcement of the bill. • Monitor progress. Keep the public informed on how well the law is being implemented.

14. Advocacy People underestimate the impact they can have on the process through contact with legislators. By being part of an organized group in an area that you have an interest in, you can multiply the impact of your own ideas. Ralph Regula The important thing to understand about legislators is that there are dozens of competing interests and issues that occupy them. They are stretched thin. Mark Shields I believe Congress has a duty to do so as well; not simply as a body of legislators, but more importantly as a community of friends, neighbors, parents and Americans. Jim Walsh

15. Important Notes • When Building a Coalition • Contact other organizations who may be sympathetic to your cause. • Political Parties, Labor Unions, Civil Right Groups, etc. • Get written endorsements a majority of members of your group. • Publicize these endorsements.

16. Important Notes • Lobbying In Person • Make appointments. • Go in groups of 2 or 3. • At the interview: • Identify yourself and your organization. • Explain briefly why you’re there. • Leave behind a hand-out. • 1 or 2 page summary of your position. • Listen carefully. • Know what view the legislator has so you can assuage any concern. • Follow up with a letter. • Don’t bring gifts unless homemade food

17. Legislative Session

18. Session • Legislatures are two years in length and are identified by consecutive numbers. For example: • The 2011 Session is known as the First Session of the 53rd Legislature • The 2012 Session will be known as the Second Session of the 53rd Legislature

19. 3 Types of Sessions • Regular Sessions convene annually beginning at twelve o’clock noon on the first Monday in February and shall be adjourned sine die not later than five o’clock p.m. on the last Friday in May of each year. • Interim Sessions occur between the Regular Legislative Sessions. During this time the legislative branch is without law making authority. Public hearings, committee studies, investigations, and program preparation occur during this the Interim Session. • Special Sessions, (also known as Extraordinary Sessions), are called by the Governor or 2/3 of the House of Representatives and State Senate to deal with a specific issue. Special Sessions are called in addition to the Regular Sessions and have law making authority.

20. Types of Legislation • Bills: • Must be passed by both chambers • Must be signed by the Governor • Generally propose new statutes or amendments to existing statutes • Are used when the measure needs long term applicability

21. Types of Legislation • Concurrent Resolutions: • Do not have the force and effect of law • Must be passed by both chambers • Are not signed by the Governor • Will not become part of the state statutes • Are used to express the will or opinion of both chambers

22. Types of Legislation • Simple Resolutions: • Do not have the force and effect of law • Must pass only the chamber which introduced the measure • Are not signed by the Governor • Will not become part of state statutes • Are used only to express the will or opinion of one chamber

23. Types of Legislation • Joint Resolution: • Have the force and effect of law • Must be passed by both chambers • Must be signed by the Governor (except with the measure submits a question to a vote of the people) • Usually will not become part of the state statutes • Are used when the measure has a short term applicability

24. “State Legislatures today have greater capacity than ever before, and the most important ingredient of this greater capacity is legislative staff. As much as anything else, it is the tremendous expansion of legislative staffing in recent decades that has transformed the nation’s Legislature.” [Alan Rosenthal, Legislative Life, p. 206]

25. Filing a Bill • Filing a bill must occur by January 20. All substantive bills up for consideration in 2011 must be filed by this date. • If someone comes up with an idea after January 20, they must find an existing bill to attach their idea to. If no bill is available on that topic, the idea will have to wait.

26. Filing a Bill • Strict deadlines must be held because of the short legislative sessions. • Voters passed a constitutional amendment in 1989 that legislators could only meet in Regular Sessions between February and May.

27. Reading a Bill or Resolution • Measures being considered by the Oklahoma State Legislature pass through a variety of forms: • Introduced Version • Committee Version • Engrossed Version • Enrolled Version

28. Introduced Version • The bill or resolution, as filed, is printed and is available on the web at www.oklegislature.gov/. The measure is introduced in this form and remains this way until it is reported out of committee in the first chamber.

29. Introduced Version • Introduced bills receive two immediate readings: • The reading occur on the first and second days of legislative session. • At the second day’s reading most bills are assigned to a committee.

33. Committee Version • After a measure has been heard in committee in the first chamber and reported to the floor for further consideration, it is printed and is available on the web at www.oklegislature.gov/.

34. Committee Version • Each chamber has a committee deadline. Bills that don’t meet the deadline are dropped for the year. • A lot of bills die here. • Bills must pass out of the chamber where they were introduced by March 17.

35. Committee Version • Bills that pass through the original chamber go across the Capitol to the opposite chamber, where they receive two readings and are assigned to committees. • The bill must clear committee in the second chamber by April 28. • A small number of bills make it through this process.

36. Conference Committee • House rules require that all House measures passed by House committees, except those assigned to the House Committee on Appropriations and Budget, must contain complete titles and enacting or resolving clauses. • This encourages committees to make all changes that they feel should be made to a measure and conveys to the members of the committee that they are considering a measure that is in a form that can be signed into law (a live round). • However, it is common for an author to reach an agreement with the committee to have a measure’s title “stricken” or “crippled” during floor action to ensure the House the opportunity to review the bill further. • This is a fairly common action on major legislation, particularly if its enactment would have a significant fiscal impact or cause great controversy. • On Senate measures, the House author may need to strike the enacting clause if the title has already been removed in order to prevent it from being sent to the Governor in an incomplete form. • This may be done by either committee amendment or floor amendment (House Rule 7.5d (2007)).

37. Engrossed Version • A verified copy of the bill or resolution, complete with any committee of floor amendments, is executed before Third Reading and subsequently as needed. An ENGROSSED VERSION passed by one chamber is printed for committee work in the second chamber; then to the floor for action.

38. Engrossed Version • If the bill is changed in the second chamber, it goes back to the originating house for consideration. If the changes are rejected, the bill is forced to a conference committee. • Conference committees are made up of legislators from both chambers for the purpose of reaching a compromise. • A majority of representatives and senators on the committee must sign a report to move the bill from conference.

39. Engrossed Version • Bills go to the floor of each chamber for consideration when they are reported out of conference committee. • The conference version cannot be amended. • If both chambers approve the bill, then it goes to the governor’s desk for approval. • If either chamber rejects the compromise, a second conference committee may be appointed. • Both houses have to accept the same wording then it’s sent to the governor.

40. Enrolled Version • A verified final copy of the identical bill or resolution passed by both chambers and ready for the Governor’s signature is printed. • The Governor can sign or veto the bill. • If a bill is vetoed, the legislature can override it with a 2/3 vote in both houses.

41. Source: Oklahoma House of Representatives Legislative Manual 2010

42. Voting Totals Majority 2/3 3/4 House 51 68 76 Senate 25 32 36 Revenue-raising bills are not subject to the emergency. Unless they receive a three-fourths majority in both houses, they must be approved by a popular vote at the next general election.

43. Enrolled Version • The Governor’s options: • If, while the legislator is in session, the governor does nothing, the bill will become law after five days. • If the legislative session ends before the five days and the Governor does nothing, then the bill is considered vetoed. • The Governor has fifteen days to sign bills passed in the last week of session. Not signing amounts to a veto.

44. Legislation which originates in the Senate is numbered consecutively beginning with “1”: • SB1 SJR1 SCR1 SR1 • Legislation which originates in the House of Representatives is numbers consecutively beginning with “1001”: • HB1001 HJR1001 HCR1001 HR1001

45. From Bill to Law • Many bills in Oklahoma are declared an emergency, allowing the bills to become law immediately upon the governor’s signature, or at some date specified in the bill. • Bills become laws after 90 days after the legislature ends. • Budget bills are always emergencies because the state’s new budget takes effect July 1.

46. Key Facts • Prior to 2009, Governor Henry used his veto pen an average of 12 times per session in the past four years. In 2010 Governor Henry vetoed 40 bills. • A veto was overridden in 2008 for the first time since 1993. • About 2500 bills are considered during the four month process.

48. Changes in Legislative Structure • Oklahoma State Senate • Republicans gain control of Oklahoma Senate. • Senate committee structure overhauled. • Appropriations subcommittee on Health is now combined with Human Services with one chairman and one analyst. • Senate Standing Committee Health & Human Resources changed to Health & Human Services.

49. Changes in Legislative Structure • Oklahoma State Senate • President ProTempore • Brian Bingman, Sapulpa • Appropriations: Health and Human Services Subcommittee • Chair-Clark Jolley, Edmond • Vice Chair-Kim David, Tulsa • Health and Human Services • Chair-Brian Crain, Tulsa

50. Changes in Legislative Structure • Oklahoma House of Representatives • Republicans maintain control of House of Representatives. • 2009 House committee structure overhauled to abolish subcommittees of standing committees and committees re-titled.