Members of the Oklahoma Legislature will meet in a special closed-door meeting March 16 to discuss the impact of the coronavirus in the state.

Republicans and Democrats will meet with state health officials to discuss the following:

• • State services
  • What other states are doing to curtail the spread of the virus
  • The future of the legislative session

Additionally, if the legislative session is suspended, Gov. Kevin Stitt may call lawmakers back into session at a later date.

Gov. Kevin Stitt issued an executive order on February 3 designed to prune state regulations by 25%.

Executive Order 2020-03 has two main requirements.

First, state agencies must review their administrative rules and list any that are expensive, ineffective, redundant, or outdated.

Second, for all new restrictive rules proposed after February 15, agencies have to eliminate at least two existing regulatory restrictions until agencies reduce regulations by 25%.

The order requires the Oklahoma secretary of state to write an annual report for the governor that outlines progress made in eliminating burdensome regulations and streamlining state government.

Rep. Jason Smalley resigned from his Senate District 28 seat effective January 31 after serving six years in the district.

Smalley will become a senior account manager at Motorola Solutions Corp. for their Oklahoma operation.

By law, the special election must fall on the dates of the regular primary election, runoff primary election, or general election.

Gov. Kevin Stitt must call for a special election no later than 30 days after Sen. Smalley’s vacancy.

Gov. Kevin Stitt issued an executive order on July 5 instructing state agencies to end the practice of hiring outside firms to lobby the Legislature.

Executive Order 2019-29 prohibits all state agencies from entering or extending any contracts with lobbyists without securing written approval from one of Stitt’s cabinet secretaries.

Stitt stated in the executive order that the practice of expending taxpayers’ money on the hiring of outside lobbyists to lobby on behalf of a state agency was not a proper use of state funds.

Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a resolution on May 28 to disapprove proposed amendments to the state ethics rules relating to lobbying and campaign finance.

Senate Joint Resolution 22 rejects rule amendments submitted by the Ethics Commission during the 2019 legislative session.

Among the proposals rejected was Proposed Rule 2019-01, which would have added a definition to “coordination” or “coordinated” for purposes of determining what is considered a contribution in a campaign for elected state office.

The resolution also disapproved Proposed Rule 2019-03, which would have provided a two-year waiting period before an individual who served as an elected state officer or chief administrative officer of a state agency may lobby, or be paid to influence an action of the legislature or the entity the officer previously served.

Proposed Rule 2019-04, which sought to prohibit candidates from directing contributions from a limited political action committee to one or more candidates or candidate committees, was also rejected.

The proposed rules would have taken effect after adjournment sine die of the legislative session.