OK-New lawmakers to take office, begin bill filing mid-November
Author :  Shawn Ashley 
Date :  09/10/2008

(OK) Lawmakers elected this year will take officially their offices two weeks after the general election and will be able to hit the ground running as bill filing gets underway immediately.

Members of the 52nd Legislature will gather at the Capitol Nov. 18, two weeks after the general election, to be sworn into office. Ceremonies are planned in the Senate for 11 a.m. and in the House at 1 p.m.

Senate members may begin pre-filing bills in advance of the legislative session on Nov. 15. That date falls on a Saturday, so the first bills are not expected to be pre-filed until Monday, Nov. 17, said Senate Chief of Staff Tom Walls. House members must wait until after the swearing-in ceremony to begin pre-filing legislation. Pre-filing begins for House members on Nov. 19.

Lawmakers adopted SCR 97, by Senate Co-President Pro Tempore Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City; Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Morgan, D-Stillwater, and House Speaker Chris Benge, R-Tulsa, in May. The resolution established the legislative procedure schedule for the upcoming legislative session. Under the terms of the resolution, members of the 52nd Legislature will gather at the state Capitol on Jan. 6, 2009, for an organization day. They will return to begin the first session of the 52nd Legislature on Feb. 2, 2009.

The deadline to request the drafting of bills and joint resolutions is Dec. 12. That is followed by the Jan. 15, 2009, deadline for the introduction of bills and joint resolutions, which is commonly called the bill filing deadline.

Lawmakers will have until March 12, 2009, for third reading of bills in their house of origin. April 23, 2009, is the deadline for third reading in the opposite house.

Sine die of the first session of the 52nd Legislature is scheduled for May 29, 2009.

The second session of the 52nd Legislature is set to convene Feb. 1, 2010, according to SCR 97. Prior to that, lawmakers must request the drafting of bills and resolutions by Dec. 11, 2009, and must file their bills no later than Jan. 14, 2010. The deadline for third reading of bills in their house of origin is March 11, 2010, followed by an April 22, 2010, deadline for third reading of bills in the opposite chamber. The 52nd Legislature's second session is scheduled to adjourn no later than May 28, 2010.

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