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Senate committee OKs bill to create unified online portal, study centralized ODVA site in Del City
Summary
The Oklahoma Senate Veterans and Military Affairs Committee approved Senate Bill 159 to create a unified online portal for the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs and direct a commission to study a consolidated site (proposed for Del City). The bill passed 7-2 and would take effect in November if enacted.
Senate Bill 159, which would create a unified online portal for the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs (ODVA) and direct a commission to study implementing a consolidated service site, passed the Senate Veterans and Military Affairs Committee by a 7-2 vote.
The bill, presented by Senator Mann, would establish an online portal bringing agencies that currently provide veterans services into “a unified location” and authorizes a commission to study implementation details. Mann said the bill would not take effect until November of this year and that the committee would have another year to meet and return recommendations for how much of the proposal to adopt.
The measure prompted questions about sequencing. Senator Hines asked whether the committee should study the need before committing to establishing a site; Hines asked that the bill language be changed from “shall” to “may” with respect to implementing the commission’s recommendations. Senator Mann agreed to that change on the record.
Sean Kirkland, deputy director at ODVA, told the committee the department’s headquarters is in Oklahoma City and that ODVA operates a veterans center in Lawton plus six other veterans homes across the state. Senator Mann said he proposed Del City as the study location because it is halfway between the VA medical center and Tinker Air Force Base and sits on a major arterial, but he said the commission could recommend other locations.
Committee members also moved to strike the bill title at the hearing after concluding there was no fiscal impact identified for the title. After debate and amendment, the committee recorded 7 ayes and 2 nays and the chair declared the bill passed by the committee.
The committee record shows the bill would take effect in November and that the commission would have a further year to return recommendations; details on implementation costs, staffing changes at ODVA and any timeline for construction or reuse of existing ODVA facilities were not specified in committee discussion.
