Oklahoma’s four-month legislative session continues to fly by with only a few weeks remaining until the Oklahoma Constitution requires adjournment by the last Friday in May each year. The past two and a half weeks have been filled with each chamber carefully considering legislation that has already successfully passed from the other side to potentially go on to Governor Stitt for final approval or veto.
According to the Oklahoma Pork Council in their latest newsletter- “The busyness of the session brought great news for the Oklahoma Pork Council as one of its favorite bills of 2025 successfully passed from its House oversight committee, making it eligible for consideration by the full House of Representatives soon.
“Senate Bill 1027 would make several important reforms to the initiative petition process in Oklahoma. From more transparency in funding sources to requiring signature collectors to be registered Oklahoma voters, the bill would strengthen the need for home-grown support of proposed state questions and help cut down out-of-state activism in the process. Most important to the Oklahoma Pork Council, the bill would require geographic distribution of signatures beyond just Oklahoma City and Tulsa, as has often been done in the past. Each of these changes will help protect a trustworthy initiative petition process when a ballot question comes up similar to California’s Proposition 12 in the coming months.
“The Oklahoma Pork Council has been one of the most vocal supporters of the bill this session, with its contract lobbyist James McSpadden working to support S.B 1027 authors Senator Bullard and Speaker Hilbert, however possible. As the leader of the entire House, speakers don’t always present their own bills in committee, but Oklahoma Pork Council’s membership is very proud of Speaker Hilbert for personally presenting S.B 1027 and diligently working to reform Oklahoma’s initiative petition process this year.”
Senate Bill 1027 was passed through the Senate in March, with the author of the measure David Bullard of Durant. Senate Bill 1027 gives a broad cross-section of Oklahomans a voice in what qualifies for the ballot by establishing that no more than 10% of the total number of initiative petition signatures come from any one county with more than 400,000 residents. In addition, no more than 4% of signatures shall come from any one county with less than 400,000 residents.
Bullard’s bill also proposes greater transparency in the initiative petition process by requiring paid signature gatherers to disclose their financial backers and mandating that only registered Oklahoma voters are eligible to gather signatures. Under this bill, only Oklahoma residents or groups could pay signature gatherers. The bill further proposes simplifying the language of petition summaries, or gists, and requiring that these summaries explicitly state whether a petition will have a fiscal impact.
The measure was amended by the House Oversight Committee and awaits further action.
