John,

The deadline for filing bills in the upcoming 60th Legislature is this Thursday. While Democrats today are unveiling a strong agenda of legislation to improve the lives of Oklahomans, Republicans continue to file harmful legislation. 

So, we are unveiling our Bad Bill Alert! We’ll be keeping careful watch this legislative session and holding lawmakers accountable. We will equip you with everything you need to help elected Democrats stop harmful bills from becoming bad laws. We’ll also be spotlighting the impactful legislation those Democrats at the Capitol are pushing forward.

Which brings us to Freshman Republican Senator Lisa Standridge (R-Norman), who has filed SB 484. This Bad Bill would prohibit any municipality with fewer than 300,000 residents from providing programs and services to Oklahomans experiencing homelessness.

Before my time serving you as Executive Director of the Oklahoma Democratic Party, I worked at the City of Shawnee as lead coordinator to develop a network for assistance based on the principal that homelessness, no matter where you live, should be short and temporary.

During the early days of that program, we had limited to no funding and we relied heavily on community based support. A local roofer helped supply tarps for folks living in tents by the river during the rainy season, a local church allowed us to run a base camp out of their storage building, our local food bank helped us supply lunches, volunteers poured in from all corners of the community because Oklahomans believe in lending a helping hand. 

This bill is the antithesis of what it means to be an Oklahoman. I have direct and very personal experience with folks living in a town of 31,000. It was my personal task to collect the stories and experiences of these individuals, Sen Standridge believes these very individuals shouldn't have access to centralized resources and regulated assistance. This bill is an act of negligence that will leave veterans, families, and former foster children, mentally ill, and people who desperately need services without care. 

Senator Standridge hasn't spoken to folks like me, who have worked in these roles, if she had I would have said that a municipality is the ONE organization in a community that is uniquely designed to centralize and coordinate as a neutral ground for organizations, faith groups, nonprofits, and government agencies to come together. 

When we come together as Oklahomans, we get things done. Taking the small town's right to serve their community away does nothing to solve the problem at hand. I'm asking for your help on this issue that's so very near to my heart, help us by contacting your legislator and urge them to vote no on this dangerous bill. 

And that’s what you can count on us to bring you this legislative session. Keep an eye out in your inbox for updates as bills start moving to committees, the first step to becoming a law.

If you appreciate alerts like this, and the work we’ll be doing to keep Oklahomans informed and powerful at the State Capitol, I hope you’ll stand with us and support our work.

With Defiance,

Lauren Craig
Interim Executive Director, Oklahoma Democratic Party


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The Oklahoma Democratic Party
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Oklahoma City, OK 73118
United States
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