A House committee advanced a group of bills May 20 that would change how judicial nominees are vetted, create a retirement supplement fund for Oklahoma National Guard members, allow limited nonresident landowner hunting privileges, and adopt several transparency and workforce measures.

The committee, chaired by Chairman Osborne, adopted working drafts and reported most bills as "do pass" or "due pass," typically by unanimous or near-unanimous voice votes. Several bills prompted sustained questions from committee members about implementation, definitions and unintended effects.

The most debated measures

Judicial Nominating Commission reform (House Bill 2103)
Pro Tem Moore said the bill would "update and modernize the JNC," and described three principal changes: mandatory recusal for any commission member within the third degree of consanguinity to an applicant (failure to recuse would bar reappointment), disclosure of monetary donations by commission members to applicants' campaigns, and tightening eligibility for Bar Association members to where they are registered to vote rather than where they receive a bar journal. Moore said the changes aim to "keep DC out of our Oklahoma" and to increase transparency in judicial nominations.

The committee adopted the working draft and reported the bill as due pass. Several members asked for clarifying language on degrees of kinship and whether campaign disclosures should include contributions to immediate relatives; Moore said those specifics were open for follow-up and possible amendment.

Oklahoma National Guard retirement supplement (House Bill 2136)
Representative Burns described House Bill 2136 as creating the "Oklahoma National Guard Supplement Retirement Pay Revolving Fund," intended to provide supplemental retirement pay for Guard members who reach 25 years of service and help retain members with specialized skills. Burns said the measure is meant to address retention in specialties such as pilots and legal officers and to "fill that gap" between retirement eligibility and when benefits become payable.

Representative Fugate spoke in debate, warning the subsidy could create a perverse incentive for personnel to leave at 25 rather than continue service; Burns replied the fund would operate only when funds are available and was intended to encourage longer service. The bill passed the committee 9–1.

Nonresident landowner hunting license proposal (House Bill 2896)
Representative George presented a bill to allow certain nonresident landowners to purchase licenses that let them hunt on property they own without paying full nonresident rates elsewhere. As explained, eligibility would require minimum ownership (the draft sets a 160-acre threshold), one year of ownership, and limits the privilege to the landowner and immediate family when hunting on the owner’s property. George said the measure is intended to add "proper guardrails" to prevent abuse, and acknowledged the Department of Wildlife would implement rules and require annual proof of ownership for continued eligibility.

Committee members asked whether acreage must be contiguous and whether lifetime licenses would remain valid if an owner sells the land; George said he expected rules to require annual proof of ownership and that a lifetime license holder who no longer owned qualifying land would lose the privilege. The committee reported the bill as due pass by voice vote (reported as 9 aye, 1 nay in the transcript record).

Other bills advanced (summary)
- House Bill 1751 (Service Oklahoma cleanup): Sponsor described the measure as technical cleanup language related to Service Oklahoma and driver identification language. The committee adopted an amendment by unanimous consent and reported the bill as due pass (vote recorded 10–0).

- House Bill 1607 (state contract-employee transparency): The bill requires state agencies to report the number of contract employees and pay information to increase transparency. Sponsor said the intent was to "increase transparency around contract employments." Reported as do pass (10–0).

- House Bill 2402 (industrial heat recovery program): The bill would create a program offering rebates or incentives to businesses that recover industrial heat and convert it to electricity, intended primarily for manufacturing investments (presenter cited natural-gas flare recovery as an example). Reported as do pass (10–0).

- House Bill 2387 (Department of Rehabilitation Services commission expansion): The bill would expand the DRS commission from three to seven members, stagger terms and set membership requirements to ensure quorum and broader expertise. Sponsor said difficulty obtaining a quorum was a key reason for expansion. Reported as do pass (10–0).

- House Bill 2899 (dental-care access and workforce incentives): The bill would tighten teledentistry rules (requiring Oklahoma-licensed dentists providing remote diagnoses or prescriptions to hold an Oklahoma license and an office within 50 miles of the state border), expand the dental loan-repayment program from 25 to 30 dentists per year and raise the maximum annual repayment from $50,000 to $60,000 for up to five years, with service obligations tied to underserved areas and Medicaid patients. Reported as do pass (10–0).

- House Bill 1678 (tie-breaking in elections): A proposal to eliminate coin-flip or random-draw tie-breakers and instead set a new election when a tie occurs; sponsors said the change would prevent winners being decided by chance. Reported as do pass (10–0).

- House Bill 2117 (collaborative-law alternative dispute resolution): Sponsor said the bill adopts a collaborative-law model used in many states to provide an alternative dispute-resolution process for parties who may not have resources for typical mediation. Reported as do pass (10–0).

- House Bill 2565 (retail liquor license partnership clarification): The bill would clarify how Article 28A of the state constitution (retail liquor licenses) applies to partnerships and what constitutes a partnership for licensing. Sponsor framed it as an initial step toward stakeholder discussion. Reported as do pass (10–0).

Procedure, votes and next steps
Committee members typically adopted sponsored working drafts and moved for "do pass" or "due pass." Most measures were reported out unanimously (voice votes recorded as 10–0); the Guard retirement supplement passed 9–1 after one legislator expressed concern about potential unintended incentives. Several sponsors said they expect additional amendments or rulemaking to clarify details (for example, how to define degrees of consanguinity in JNC recusal rules, or how the wildlife department will verify landownership annually).

Votes at a glance (committee report outcomes)
- HB1751 (Service Oklahoma cleanup): reported as due pass, vote 10–0.
- HB2103 (Judicial Nominating Commission reform): reported as due pass, vote not recorded by individual names (committee reported outcome as due pass).
- HB1607 (contract-employee transparency): reported as do pass, vote 10–0.
- HB2402 (industrial heat recovery): reported as do pass, vote 10–0.
- HB2136 (Guard retirement supplement fund): reported as due pass, vote 9–1.
- HB2387 (DRS commission expansion): reported as do pass, vote 10–0.
- HB2899 (dental access and loan repayment): reported as do pass, vote 10–0.
- HB1678 (tie-breaking elections): reported as do pass, vote 10–0.
- HB2117 (collaborative law ADR): reported as do pass, vote 10–0.
- HB2896 (nonresident landowner hunting license): reported as due pass, recorded as 9–1 in the transcript.
- HB2565 (retail liquor partnership clarification): reported as do pass, vote 10–0.

The bills will move to the next legislative stage as committee-reported measures; sponsors and committee members indicated several items will need follow-up language or administrative rules to define implementation details such as kinship degrees, annual proof-of-ownership mechanisms, and program funding triggers.