The 60th Oklahoma Legislature officially adjourns to end this legislative session.
The state lawmaking body completed its work earlier than the constitutionally mandated date of May 29th and agreed to end the session early. A large part of the reason for the early completion of the session was an early agreement between the House, Senate, and Governor Kevin Stitt on the Fiscal Year 2027 state budget.
The 2027 budget made significant investments in education. In total, the Legislature committed $232 million in new money to common education this year, triggering a 7-day increase in the school year to a minimum of 173 days. The budget also increased funding for the Department of Mental Health, while making some changes to the SNAP program as well as to child care teacher recruitment and retention.
Another major education bill that was passed into law was the "Bell to Bell no Cell" bill that requires school districts to permanently adopt a policy prohibiting students from using cell phones on campus during the school day.
Lawmakers concluded the session at 5pm on Thursday, May 14th with some discussion regarding a potential special session for remaining, dormant bills. A decision on whether or not there will be a special session will be left to Governor Stitt.
