Several bills I authored this session were sent to the governor to await his signature.

 House Bill 2051 would allow retired paid firefighters to return to service as volunteers without affecting their state pensions. It passed the state Senate this week 42-0.

 Our rural fire departments depend on volunteer firefighters to keep residents and their properties safe.  This law will allow those willing to serve in this capacity to do so without damaging their own pension plans and without adding cost to the state.

 This measure goes along with legislation I previously authored that eliminated the 45-year-old age limit for new firefighters by giving them the ability to join a department without the requirement they be added to the state’s pension plan. The legislation, which took effect in November 2015, has resulted in 300 new volunteer firefighters joining rural fire departments over the past 3 ½ years.

 This new measure will allow retired paid firefighters to perform as volunteer firefighters for a department without it affecting their current retirement benefit but also without it counting as an accrued retirement benefit against the state’s pension plan.

 House Bill 1217 also passed the Senate this week. This bill allows manufactured homes up to 18 feet in width to operate on state highways. These vehicles previously were restricted from traveling on the interstate system, particularly because of some of the narrow bridges we have in the state. They instead were being detoured off of the state highway systems onto county roads and narrow two-lane state highways. This bill will allow those manufactured homes to travel on the interstate system as opposed to our county roads and narrow two-lane highways.

 Senate Bill 392, which I co-authored, passed the House this week and now moves to the governor. This bill ensures that only meat products that come from cattle can be termed beef. Oklahoma’s beef cattle ranchers work very hard every day to produce a safe and wholesome product that consumers know as beef. New technologies that utilize cell culturing to produce meat products in a laboratory have tried to label their products as ‘beef.’ This bill ensures that package labeling will be true and accurate giving consumers confidence in their meat product purchases and only meat that comes from cattle raised by responsible ranchers will be labeled as beef.

 Senate Bill 679 also passed the House this week. This bill will keep personal information, including addresses, of undercover or covert law enforcement officers private. Under this measure, law enforcement organizations can request a county assessor to withhold from the public the personal information of these officers. The official requesting confidentiality must obtain an order of a court that requires the county assessor to maintain this confidentiality. This will help protect these individuals who help keep our communities safe.

 A bill that will ease some restrictions on opioid prescriptions for those suffering long-term pain also passed the House this week. Senate Bill 848 was written based on recommendations by the Opioid Task Force Commission. The measure specifies that new opioid laws do not apply to cancer patients, and it extends from three months to six months the amount of time a patient can go between visits to a long-term pain-management doctor. The bill was amended, so it will need to return to the Senate to be approved before it can be sent to the governor.

 While the House and Senate continue to hear numerous bills from the opposite chamber, budget negotiations are ongoing between legislative leadership and the governor’s staff. We are getting close to an agreement on appropriations for state services. I continue to fight for rural fire defense, REAP funding, mental health funding and more dollars to the education formula

 As always, I will keep you posted about our progress. If I can help you in any way, I can be reached at (405) 557-7407 or mike.sanders@okhouse.gov.