A House committee advanced several bills during the session, reporting four measures out of committee by recorded votes that ranged from unanimous to 9-1.

House Bill 13-78, described by Representative Brimsky as adding “Forestry to the ag list” to account for tree farms, passed 9-0 and was reported out to oversight. Representative Brimsky said the change addresses tree farms in his district and that “it’s crazy that Forestry is not on the list yet.”

House Bill 2407 would create a $2,000,000 revolving fund to support local Main Street programs. Representative Fettgetter presented the bill and accepted an amendment to remove a conflicting effective date, which the presenter described as a scrivener’s error. The committee recorded a 9-1 vote in favor and the measure was reported out to oversight.

House Bill 1540, described as a Workforce Education Partnership revolving fund that would allow Oklahoma CareerTech to address targeted training programs, passed 10-0. The bill’s presenter said the measure “only establishes the fund.” A committee member confirmed such programs could include electrician training; the presenter answered “Yes.”

House Bill 1543, a request bill from the Oklahoma Conservation Commission described as clarifying and strengthening the commission’s ability to administer programs, practices and pilots, was reported out on a 7-2 vote. The presenter told the committee the changes were intended to provide explicit authority to enter into contracts and shared positions with conservation districts.

Several presenters were told by the chair to secure a senate author prior to oversight when required. Where committee members asked substantive follow-up questions, presenters provided brief clarifications: for HB 2407 the amendment deleted a duplicate/conflicting effective date; for HB 1543 presenters said the bill would make explicit powers statutory to facilitate administration of programs with conservation districts.

Votes at a glance:
- HB 13-78 (add Forestry to ag list): recorded vote 9 yays, 0 nays — reported out to oversight.
- HB 2407 (Main Street revolving fund, $2,000,000): amendment accepted to remove conflicting effective date; recorded vote 9 yays, 1 nay — reported out to oversight.
- HB 1540 (Workforce Education Partnership revolving fund): recorded vote 10 yays, 0 nays — passed and reported out.
- HB 1543 (Oklahoma Conservation Commission cleanup / authority clarification): recorded vote 7 yays, 2 nays — reported out to oversight.

No dollar allocations beyond the $2,000,000 figure for HB 2407 were discussed in committee record for other measures. The committee scheduled a follow-up meeting next Monday at 10:30 a.m. and asked members to consider shadowing state agencies to learn more about budgets and programs.