Oklahoma Legislature wraps up 2018 session three weeks early, heads home
The Associated Press - May 5, 2018 8:59 am
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – The Oklahoma Legislature has wrapped up the 2018 legislative session, heading home early after a year that included two special sessions, massive teacher protests, and a last-minute flurry of emotionally charged proposals.
The House and Senate both adjourned late Thursday, three weeks earlier than required under the state Constitution.
Lawmakers already had approved a $7.6 billion budget to fund state government, the largest in state history. It includes pay raises for teachers and state workers as well as increased funding for schools and state agencies.
The Legislature saved some of the more divisive bills until the final week. Those included a bill to allow most adults to carry firearms in public without a license or training and a measure to allow religious-based agencies to discriminate against prospective LGBTQ adoptive parents.