by Jessica Dietrich, Director of Government Relations and Public Policy, and Bailey Ashbaker, Senior Policy Analyst and Engagement Specialist
State Updates
For the 2025 Legislative Session, 527 bills were sent to the Governor. 148 of those bills were signed, 70 were vetoed, and 47 of the vetoes were overridden. 305 bills became law without the Governor’s signature. Five were pocket vetoed.
Three new House members were sworn into office in June, these include:
- Rep. Kevin Norwood, R-Owasso, won the June 10 special general election to represent House District 74 in Rogers and Tulsa County.
- Rep. Amanda Clinton, D-Tulsa, also won a special general election earlier this month to fill a vacancy in House District 71.
- Rep. Aletia Timmons, D-Oklahoma City, won a special primary election on June 10 to represent House District 97 in northeast Oklahoma County.
The deadline to request House and Senate Interim studies is Friday, June 27.
Federal Updates
In the very early hours of Saturday, June 21, the Senate Parliamentarian ruled that two SNAP provisions—the cost shift to states for SNAP benefits and the restrictions on eligibility for certain immigrants—violate the Byrd rule as currently written. There are multiple ways in which a provision may violate the Byrd rule, and the Parliamentarian does not explain her rationale publicly.
The Senate GOP worked to revise the language early the following week, which includes:
- Changing the SNAP work requirement exemption for families with young children. Under the previous proposal, households with dependents as young as 10 could be exempted from the work requirement. The revised version changes the age to “under 14 years of age’” and adds exemptions for Indian or an Urban Indian (as defined in the Indian Health Care Improvement Act) and a Californian Indian.
- Permits states to use their 2025 or 2026 error rate to determine their cost share portion for the SNAP benefit allotment in Fiscal Year 2028. For Fiscal Year 2029 and beyond, the cost share would be based on the published error rate for the third preceding fiscal year (2029 is based on 2026 error rate, 2030 is 2027 error rate).
- Expands immigrant exemptions for SNAP eligibility so more Cuban and Haitian entrants will maintain their eligibility.
On Thursday, June 27, 2025, the Senate parliamentarian approved the Senate GOP’s adjusted plan to push some costs of SNAP benefits onto states. Under this plan, some states will be exempt from the cost share proposal if they can get their payment error rates below 6 percent.
State payment error rates are calculated annually and account for incidences of both overpayment and underpayment of benefits. Already under federal regulation, states are responsible for rectifying and paying back any benefits issued erroneously.
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