Jan. 7 was Organizational Day at the state Capitol, which marked the beginning of the 60th session of the Oklahoma Legislature. The Senate and House gaveled in for a one-day session to formally elect our chamber leaders and adopt rules governing legislative processes and procedures. The Senate officially elected Sen. Lonnie Paxton to serve as the chamber’s Senate President Pro Tempore for the next two years. Across the rotunda, Rep. Kyle Hilbert became the youngest House speaker in state history. Both leaders will do a great job serving this state, and I look forward to working with them, especially Pro Tem Paxton.Before our floor session, Republican senators met for an extremely productive caucus meeting to discuss session goals and a shared vision for this year. Although the GOP caucus has many new members, the Senate is a welcoming place where everyone’s voices will be heard.I’m participating in the Senate’s mentorship program again this session. This program pairs veteran senators with new members of the chamber. I’ll be working with Sen. Avery Frix, of Muscogee. Frix is new to the Senate but he’s not new to the state Capitol because he previously served six years in the House. New senators are inundated with information once they’re sworn into office. It can be overwhelming. That’s why the mentorship program is such a great initiative to help new senators get their feet under them and learn how to be effective in state government. I’m eager to get to know Sen. Frix better in the coming months.Senate Appropriations subcommittees will meet off and on for the next month until the legislative session formally begins on Feb. 3. That’s when the governor will deliver his State of the State speech to both chambers. These subcommittees will meet with state agency heads to discuss their budget requests for the upcoming fiscal year. Getting a better understanding of these funding requests is a starting point for building a state budget. I serve on the Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees funding for the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, and I’m sure we’ll be meeting with OMES representatives soon.Lastly, I’m still working on filing bills for the upcoming session. I plan on introducing legislation to change Oklahoma’s unemployment tax structure so it’s not as burdensome on small businesses. Small businesses make up about 80% of Oklahoma businesses, and I don’t want any of them to go under due to ...
