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This week, the legislature reached an important milestone with the completion of our committee deadline on Thursday, March 6. This was the final day for bills to pass out of committee, marking a critical point in the legislative session. With the new committee structure this year, we’ve spent significant time in committee meetings over the past few weeks. Ultimately, 486 bills successfully passed their required committees. This is a sharp contrast to the nearly 2,000 bills that were filed in January, underscoring how challenging it is to pass a bill into law.

As we shift focus to the House floor, the next few weeks will involve several hours each day in floor sessions, with a possibility of late evenings. We have until March 27 to pass House Bills off the House floor. After this date, the House and Senate will exchange bills, and the committee process will begin again.

So far, nearly 60 bills have already been passed to the Senate, and we are gearing up for more intense work in the coming days.

In the midst of this busy legislative schedule, I had the privilege of hosting two Bartlesville High School students, Ava Dennis and Sianna Kuehn, as Pages at the State Capitol. It’s always a joy to host constituents, particularly students, and show them around the Capitol while explaining how the legislative process works.

Ava Dennis, a junior at Bartlesville High School, plans to attend Brigham Young University to study marketing and communications. She is an active member of the National Honor Society, has been named Sophomore of the Year by the Kiwanis Club of Bartlesville, and serves as junior class president. Additionally, she plays tennis and is involved with the Interact Club.

Sianna Kuehn, a senior at BHS, plans to attend Oklahoma State University to study human resource management and global studies. She is on the A and B Honor Roll and has been taking dual enrollment college courses since her junior year. Sianna also competes in swimming and participates in the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.).

It was a pleasure to get to know both Ava and Sianna. They are both talented students and I am confident they will continue growing into wonderful, driven young people with bright futures.

I will continue to update you on how our legislative session is progressing. As always, please feel free to reach out to my office with any questions or concerns about legislation. You can contact me at (405) 557-7358 or by email at john.kane@okhouse.gov.

John Kane, a Republican, serves House District 11 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, which covers Tulsa and Washington counties.