The Kingfisher Chamber of Commerce quarterly Biz-Connect luncheon was hosted by Pioneer and featured State Sen. Darcy Jech of Kingfisher and State Rep. Mike Dobrinski of Okeene.

Held at noon last Wednesday, the meeting featured brief talks by Emily Beesley, business adviser for the Oklahoma Small Business Development Center and Peyton Burns, field representative for U.S. Sen. James Lankford.

Jech provided a synopsis of the annual legislative process.

He said each annual session officially begins the first Monday of February with the governor’s State of the State address and adjourns the last Wednesday of May, although special sessions may lengthen the lawmakers’ time at the Capitol.

He said more than 1,000 bills were filed this year in the Senate, which are then passed to the House of Representatives.

The House likewise sends its bills over to the Senate.

Many are not acted upon by both sides, Jech said. Some are amended, some are debated and some are vetoed.

After that process, if a bill is approved by both houses, it will go to the governor to be signed into law or vetoed.

Dobrinski said a budget of $12.8 billion was eventually passed this year, but “most of the time of the session” was devoted to the $3.97 school funding budget for the public schools of the state.

Both Jech and Dobrinski are the heads and members of several committees within their respective houses of state government.

They both said it was a very busy session that was, at times, also very frustrating.

The speakers were introduced by chamber staff member Jaryn Frey.

Chamber Executive Director Shauna Rupp wrapped up the meeting by informing those in attendance that this year’s July 4 celebration in the park will feature a “home run derby” at Homier Field as part of the annual festivities. (See Page 1 of this edition for more details.)

She also said a sporting clay shooting tournament will be held at Cedar Gate on Sept. 15, with four-person teams competing in the fundraiser for the cham-ber’s Christmas parade and community events.

She encouraged all those interested in forming a team to contact the chamber office.