The final pre-session deadline has been reached for the Oklahoma Legislature with the completion of bill filing for the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the Oklahoma State Senate.

Over the past month, lawmakers have worked with their staff members to complete the drafting of potential new laws in preparation for the Second Regular Session of the 60th Legislature. The session will commence on Monday, Feb. 2, at noon with Governor Kevin Stitt’s State of the State address as he begins the final year of his second term in office.

The legislative bodies completed bill filing Thursday, Jan. 15. A total of 1,578 House bills and 50 House joint resolutions were filed before the deadline. Likewise, a total of 996 Senate bills were filed for 2026, with 23 Senate joint resolutions and two Senate concurrent resolutions.

This flurry of bills joins more than 1,600 House measures and more than 900 Senate bills and resolutions carried over from 2025 which remain eligible for consideration in the 2026 legislative session.

The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) team is combing through these bills to see which, in their initial stages, will be pro-child. Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing with you which among all these measures are good for children in Oklahoma and those which might cause harm.

The House of Representatives is currently comprised of 80 Republicans and 19 Democrats with two vacancies. The Senate currently has a membership of 40 Republicans and 8 Democrats. Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell, who serves as the President of the Senate, is also in his final year under the two-term limit to hold an executive office.

With this, if you are a casual observer of Oklahoma politics and the legislative process, but you might want to learn more so you can engage in policymaking as an advocate, I have a great recommendation for you.

For years, OICA held a conference to help educate about the nuances of the lawmaking process called the Legislative Learning Lab (LLL). In 2025, the decision was made to turn this program over to the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits (OKCNP) to hopefully broaden the scope of this training to reach more interested individuals.

This year, LLL will be held both in-person and virtually for attendees to participate and learn best practices of the legislative process. The two-day training will be held on Thursday, Jan. 29, and Friday, Jan. 30, at the OKCNP headquarters located at 701 N. Lindsay in Oklahoma City from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The link to register for this training is okcnp.org/ events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1980898&group=. For those attending in person or virtually, instructions will be sent upon registration.

Across the two days, topics include: conversations with state legislative leaders; understanding the state budget and its impact; working with government agencies and lobbyists; building coalitions and grassroots advocacy campaigns and discussing key issues for nonprofits, including the Johnson Amendment; and the upcoming 2030 Census, along with other relevant and timely topics.

We will hear from such speakers as Sen. Chuck Hall, the Senate Appropriations and Budget Committee chair about Oklahoma’s budgetary process; Dr. Keith Gaddie will present about Oklahoma’s political history and how we got to where we are; Reps. Emily Gise, R-Oklahoma City, and Andy Fugate, D-Del City, will discuss caucus priorities for their respective caucuses; panels of Capitol reporters and lobbyists will discuss how their work functions during the legislative session; and, I will present an overview of the three branches of government and how they work as a dynamic to create laws.

The cost to attend in-person is: OKCNP members $150, non-members $300; and virtually online OKCNP members $100 and non-members $200. I hope that you will be able to join us for this program which will certainly benefit those who want to help in the policymaking process.

The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy was established in 1983 by a group of citizens seeking to create a strong advocacy network that would provide a voice for the needs of children and youth in Oklahoma, particularly those in the state’s care and those growing up amid poverty, violence, abuse and neglect, disparities or other situations that put their lives and future at risk. The OICA’s mission statement is: “Creating awareness, taking action and changing policy to improve the health, safety and well-being of Oklahoma’s children.”