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The Legislature recently completed one of our major deadlines.

Thursday was our final day to pass House bills off the House floor. We spent many hours in the chamber considering and voting on measures, as well as several late evenings.

I was glad to pass two of my bills this year before the deadline.

House Bill 2087 amends the income tax credit allowed for donations to independent biomedical research facilities and cancer research institutes in Oklahoma.

House Bill 1458 modifies the process for designating a funeral home as the beneficiary for Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) death benefits. When a retiree passes away, a beneficiary may choose to decline the death benefits and direct those funds to a funeral provider. The measure classifies this transfer as a qualified disclaimer rather than the assignment of benefits for tax considerations. The disclaimer must be in writing and constitutes an irrevocable refusal to accept all or part of the death benefit.

I hope to see both these bills move quickly through the Senate. Ultimately, we passed 440 measures before our deadline and will receive 321 Senate measures to consider. I am authoring three Senate bills this year and look forward to the opportunity to present these in committee.

Amidst the business of these hectic few weeks, I was glad to host a page from House District 11! Lukas Kub is a Bartlesville High School senior. He participates in their e-sports team and plans to attend Tri-County Tech to pursue culinary arts. I was glad to have him here at the Capitol

Throughout the last few weeks, the House has worked to establish our budget position. While these meetings have been long and tedious, they have been very productive. I've been told that this is perhaps the earliest in session that the House has proposed our budget, so we are well ahead of our normal pace.

We recently uploaded that proposal to the Budget HQ and plan to add the Senate's position in the next week or so. If you'd like to view the Budget HQ, please visit okhouse.gov and click on the "Budget HQ" button on the homepage.

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.