Virgin: Legislation Focused on Political Points Not Oklahomans

OKLAHOMA CITY — House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman, released the following statement after House Resolution 1026 passed the House.

The legislation creates special rules that allow the House to hear and pass legislation past legislative deadlines and exempt certain bills from rules that ensure transparency. The rules were created to pass legislation in response to federal executive orders.

“Today, the House showed that winning an argument with the Senate is worth sacrificing transparency and House precedence that has most likely existed since statehood,” Virgin said. “The most disheartening thing about this bad governance is that it isn’t for anything that will actually help Oklahomans. The legislation passed today will not help Oklahomans catch up on their bills. It doesn’t increase access to health care. We didn’t spend our time today creating ‘special rules’ to pass the Earned Income Tax Credit for working families across Oklahoma.

“We created these new rules to score political points against the Biden Administration. Our actions today were shameful, and a complete waste of taxpayer resources. When our constituents desperately need us to act on the real issues facing Oklahomans, House Republicans are focused on politics.”