Business & Insurance committee advances two dozen bills; votes at a glance

The Oklahoma Senate Business and Insurance Committee advanced a large slate of bills at its meeting, sending the measures to the Senate floor after committee votes. Several bills drew brief explanations and little debate; a subset prompted questions about implementation or local impact.

Votes at a glance (committee action and available vote tally):

- SB 10-36 — Requires insurers to reimburse ground-ambulance treatment-in-place and medically appropriate transport to non-hospital facilities; passed (9-0 recorded "ayes"). - SB 10-35 — First-offense education for construction-industry board inspections at job sites; passed (9-0 recorded "ayes"). - SB 6-44 — Clarifies that the Massage Therapy Practice Act does not prevent municipalities or counties from enforcing zoning or licensing; passed (10-0). - SB 5-15 — Amendment adopted; bill passed (10-0). (Amendment changed mandatory language.) - SB 7-29 — Legislative request to address human trafficking at massage parlors (AG request); passed (vote tally not specified in transcript). - SB 10-96 — Requires 60-day actuarial review of proposed health-plan mandates; passed (10-1). (Separate in-depth coverage published.) - SB 4-94 — Repeals statutes creating CompSource references now obsolete after privatization; passed (11-0). - SB 95 — Clarifies who is covered by employer workers’ compensation for work-based learning interns; passed (10-0). - SB 5-31 — Codifies certain restaurant corporate requirements in statute; passed (10-0). - SB 10-47 — State-level implementation to address surprise billing/dispute resolution (modeled on federal No Surprises Act); passed (10-0). - SB 7-51 — Raises the construction-project threshold at which an architect is required (county request bill); passed (10-0). - SB 3-78 — Lowers or clarifies renewal fees for certain bonds (insurance-related fee change); passed (vote tally not specified). - SB 5-21 — Requires franchise sellers to present rights only in a written contract; passed (10-0). - SB 1-60 — Authorizes expanded training and workforce-development activities for code enforcement officers; passed (10-0). - SB 10-66 — Continuing medical education requirement for physicians who prescribe medical marijuana (details to be set by medical boards); passed (10-0). - SB 9-50 — Carried for Senator Resino with title struck; do pass recorded (vote tally not specified). - SB 10-46 — Authorizes third-party delivery of alcohol with negotiated radius rules still under discussion; passed (10-0). - SB 10-94 — Grocery-store on-premises wine/deli license process changes; passed (10-0). - SB 5-20 — Title struck for further negotiation; passed (10-0 recorded). - SB 6-41 — Clarifies insurer and consumer rights on subsequent tows and repair incentives; passed (10-0). - SB 7-84 — More detailed tow/total-loss fee rules (laid over for further negotiation by request of sponsor). - SB 11-01 — Requires reporting of dental loss ratios; bill will be amended on the floor to reflect a stakeholder agreement; passed in committee (9-0). - SB 7-26 — Aligns property-insurance litigation fee rules with a statute used for uninsured-motorist claims (adds 15% interest rule in certain judgments); passed (8-1).

Bills explicitly laid over or continued for negotiation included SB 10-34, SB 9-73 (laid over at the meeting start), SB 7-84 (laid over later), and at least one bill for which title was struck to allow further talks (SB 5-20). Several bills were carried at the request of county or industry sponsors and included concurrence from county governments in the record.

Committee comments and next steps: committee authors frequently said they were working with stakeholders (counties, industry groups, the Insurance Commission and medical boards) and, where agreement was not yet complete, asked to lay measures over or strike title to continue negotiations. Measures cleared by the committee will next be considered on the Senate floor.