🚨Advocacy Alert! 🚨 Engaged Citizens Win Concessions from Extremist SB 484 Author 💪

John,

Huge news! Senator Lisa Standridge (R-Norman) has announced that after tremendous pressure brought by local advocates like yourself, we can expect changes to her harmful bill SB 484. This bill, as currently written, will ban any municipality other than OKC & Tulsa from offering any service or programming for Oklahomans experiencing homelessness.

This pointlessly cruel legislation was written with no regard for victims of domestic violence and the shelters designed to serve them. Sen. Standridge has said she will be correcting that portion of the law when the bill is in committee.

This is proof that fierce advocacy and engagement by our friends and neighbors is a powerful tool to shape the laws we see coming out of the Capitol. I could not be more proud of the work we are doing together to hold lawmakers accountable to the needs of working Oklahomans.

Now, we likely won't see the rewrite of this terrible legislation until February, or later, when Committees at the Legislature begin hearing bills.

Reading Sen. Standridge's comments, I don't expect her to completely change the purpose of the bill. She still views her neighbors who are struggling as dangerous and inconvenient. She still wants to see people leave their own communities rather than trying to be a better neighbor. I will bet that when the amended SB 484 starts moving through committees at the State Capitol, you'll hear from us again. 

That's our promise to you this year. We will keep you informed of what is happening at the Capitol. We'll help you sort out what is important, and what is noise. And we'll make sure you know exactly how to make a difference.

Yours in Democracy,

Krislyn Sherer

Field Director, Oklahoma Democratic Party

We are Democratic strong, powered by grassroots efforts and activists of this Great State. Our mission is to fight for Oklahoma’s most vulnerable communities, protect working families and ensure that we live up to the promises of the Oklahoma dream.