Rep. Cody Maynard
We spent the week hearing Senate Bills on the House floor.
On Thursday, House Bill 4156 passed to create the crime of impermissible occupation, which is committed if a person willfully and without permission enters and remains in Oklahoma without having first obtained legal authorization to enter the United States.
Due to President Biden’s deliberate and ineffective border strategy, record numbers of immigrants are entering the U.S. illegally, depleting resources and overrunning towns and cities throughout the country.
In the past three years, there have been more illegal border crossings at our southern border than the previous 12 years combined. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported that encounters with unauthorized migrants at the border reached a historic high of 3.2 million in fiscal year 2023.
Uncontrolled borders pose a significant national security risk, allowing bad actors to easily enter the U.S. In the past year, the number of “Special Interest Aliens,” explicitly classified as those from countries with potential national security concerns, has grown into the thousands.
With porous borders and ineffective federal policies, every state in the United States is, in effect, a border state. In response, House Republicans decided to pass HB4156 to address the illegal immigration crisis on their own.
Another measure we passed is Senate Bill 729, which reestablishes the Oklahoma-Israel exchange Commission to advance business and other mutually beneficial activities. As I’ve said before, I am a strong supporter of Israel.
Over the next week, we will continue to hear Senate bills on the House floor. After that, the legislative focus will shift toward the state budget. House Republicans revealed their proposed $12.63B FY25 budget and a new Budget Transparency Portal this past Tuesday.
The online dashboard allows lawmakers, agency officials and members of the public to easily compare each chamber’s official budget proposal. State agency requests are also available. Taxpayers can easily track where every penny flows, allowing a new level of transparency in an increasingly online world.
You can visit the House Budget Transparency Portal by following this link: https://tinyurl.com/HouseBudgetPortal2024.
Again, thank you for electing me to serve District 21. It is truly an honor and privilege to represent you at the State Capitol. As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to me with any concerns at 405-557-7366 or cody.maynard@okhouse.gov.