According to Rep. Charles Ortega of Altus, work on Senate bills are under way. This week was the first opportunity for members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives to review the legislation sent to us after approval in the state Senate.

“We have received 558 bills and joint resolutions from the state Senate and have until April 8 to complete committee work on those measures. After that, all Senate bills must receive a vote on the House floor vote by April 22,” Ortega said.

There were 487 House Bills and joint resolutions that cleared the House and now await committee votes in the state Senate.

Oklahoma Ranked Among Top States in Reducing Water Pollution

This week, Oklahoma was ranked among the top five states in the nation for reducing pollution to streams and rivers.

According to an Environmental Protection Agency analysis of nutrient and sediment reduction, Oklahoma accounted for more than 10 percent of all reduction of nitrogen from waterways nationwide in 2009. The report also showed that 16 percent of national reductions of phosphorous in water occurred in Oklahoma.

That success proves the wisdom of using voluntary programs that allow for the state to partner with Oklahoma farmers and ranchers instead of having a top-down mandate from bureaucrats.

This week was “Sunshine Week,” a time when newspapers focus on open government. The Oklahoma House of Representatives has implemented a number of reforms in recent years to allow voters to have more input and access.

Today, roll call votes are posted online in real time for every action taken in both committee and on the House floor.

The text of legislation and proposed amendments is typically posted online at least 24 hours in advance of a vote. In past years, amendments could be hand-written on scratch paper and voted on within minutes, preventing public scrutiny of potentially significant legislative changes.

You can listen to every debate conducted on the House floor from 2005 to 2009 – all are posted online. This year, we have installed streaming video that is also archived online for all House floor activity. (Prior to 2005, recordings were made of floor activity, but those tapes were not made available to the general public and were destroyed after a year.)

We have also created Openbooks.ok.gov, which puts House expenditures online, and a bill advancing this year would increase the amount of detail posted on the site.