House interim studies announced

Legislative Staff Release

Published: 25-Jun-2010

House Speaker Chris Benge this week approved 68 interim studies that will be conducted over the summer and fall prior to the next legislative session.

The studies cover a wide range of issues, including child welfare services, agency consolidation, math education in Oklahoma schools, tax credits and incentives, and a review of recent government modernization efforts, among other topics.

“Interim studies give lawmakers an opportunity to investigate and flesh out potential legislative proposals before drafting bills,” said Benge, a Tulsa Republican. “This year we have a good set of studies covering a diverse array of topics.”

Overall, 76 study requests were approved, although eight were combined with either similar or duplicate proposals, bringing down the total number of actual studies to 68.

Due to the budget situation, the number of days committees can conduct interim studies was limited to reduce costs.

“In light of the budget situation, we felt it was important to strike a balance between reducing expenses and allowing for legitimate examination of issues,” Benge said.

Committees and subcommittees assigned three or fewer studies will be required to conduct all of them in a single day.

Committees assigned four to five studies will have no more than two days to meet and those with six or more studies will have up to three days to meet.

As a result, 12 committees and subcommittees will have only one day of interim studies, four committees will be allowed no more than two days for review, and four committees will have three or fewer days to meet.

For a full listing of the approved interim studies, go to www.okhouse.gov and click on the “House Committees” tab on the left side of the screen, then select “interim studies.”