Oklahoma House Speaker threatens special session due to Senate's inactivity

LEAD TO MORE TIME IN THE CAPITOL FOR LAWMAKERS. THAT’S EXACTLY RIGHT. I OBTAINED AN EMAIL FROM THE HOUSE SPEAKER, KYLE HILBERT, WHERE HE SAYS HE MAY ASK THE GOVERNOR TO CALL A SPECIAL SESSION ONCE THIS REGULAR SESSION ENDS. HE SAYS THAT’S BECAUSE HE WANTS LAWS THAT HE THINKS ARE NECESSARY TO BE PASSED. AND THAT’S IF THE SENATE DOESN’T GET TO WORK. HALLWAY AFTER HALLWAY. THE OKLAHOMA SENATE SITS QUIET. IT’S BEEN A WEEK FULL OF DRAMA, AS THE SENATE DECIDED THEY’VE COMPLETED THE WORK THEY WANT DONE FOR THE 2026 SESSION. CLERK, CALL THE ROLL. BUT HOUSE LEADERS SAY IT ISN’T ENOUGH. HOUSE SPEAKER KYLE HILBERT SENT A LETTER TO REPRESENTATIVES ABOUT THAT PENDING LEGISLATION, LIKE ONE BILL THAT WOULD POSE A STATE QUESTION TO VOTERS ON MEDICAID. HE WARNS THAT IF THEY DON’T PASS IDEAS HE SAYS ARE NECESSARY, GOVERNOR KEVIN STITT COULD CALL A SPECIAL SESSION. SPEAKER HILBERT QUESTIONED THE SENATE’S TACTICS, ASKING RHETORICALLY WHAT THE PURPOSE OF BEING ELECTED IS. IF THEY AREN’T GOING TO GET AS MUCH DONE AS POSSIBLE WHEN IN THE CAPITOL. SENATE LEADERSHIP DID HAVE CLOSED DOOR MEETINGS TODAY. I TRIED ASKING SENATE PRO TEM LONNIE PAXTON ABOUT WHAT HE THOUGHT ABOUT HILBERT SPECIAL SESSION MESSAGE. I WAS TOLD NO COMMENT FROM A SPOKESPERSON. AFTER TAKING OFF MONDAY AND TUESDAY. I’VE NOW CONFIRMED THE SENATE WILL SIT QUIET AGAIN WEDNESDAY, BUT THEY’RE EXPECTED TO GAVEL IN THURSDAY. MEANWHILE, THE HOUSE THEY PUSHED FORWARD MEMBERS TO SEND AN EMAIL ABOUT TEN MINUTES AGO. BUT WE WILL NOT NEED A QUORUM TOMORROW. THE SENATE IS NOT COMING IN. SO IT’S OUR UNDERSTANDING. AN EMAIL WENT OUT A LITTLE BEFORE NOON TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE SENATE INSTRUCTING THEM. THEY PLAN TO RETURN AT 8 A.M. THURSDAY. WE’VE POSTED HOUSE SPEAKER KYLE HILBERT’S FULL EMAIL TO THOSE STATE REPS ON OUR WEBSITE, SO YOU CAN TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT THEIR PERSPECTIVE OF THIS WHOLE DEAL IS GOING ON. WE ALSO JUST DON’T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT WILL BE ON THE AGENDA FOR THURSDAY, WHETHER THEY TAKE UP AN Oklahoma House Speaker threatens special session due to Senate's inactivity Oklahoma House Speaker Kyle Hilbert has warned of a potential special session if the Senate does not act on pending legislation during the final days of the regular session. Updated: 6:22 PM CDT May 12, 2026 Editorial Standards ⓘ A number of bills at the Oklahoma state Capitol are in jeopardy of never becoming law as state Senators continue to stay quiet. Oklahoma lawmakers are facing a legislative stalemate, which could lead to more time at the Capitol for those legislators. House Speaker Kyle Hilbert sent an email, warning he may push Gov. Kevin Stitt to call a special session after the regular session ends to pass laws Hilbert said are necessary. Meanwhile, hallways in the Oklahoma Senate remain quiet. State senators said they have completed the work they want done during the 2026 session, but House leaders said it isn't enough. House Speaker sends email to lawmakers In an email to representatives, Hilbert expressed concern over pending legislation, including a bill that would pose a state question to voters on Medicaid. “We may have to contemplate the scenario of working with the Governor for the possibility of bringing us back into session for the purpose of passing necessary policies that are good for the state,” Hilbert said. >> Video Below: Oklahoma lawmakers debate Senate schedule as session deadline approachesHilbert also questioned the Senate’s approach, asking, “What is the purpose of being elected if we aren’t going to get as much done as possible while we are here?” Senate remains quiet at state CapitolThe Oklahoma Senate has been largely inactive this week, with hallways sitting empty. Senate leadership held closed-door meetings Tuesday, but Senate Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton declined to comment on Hilbert’s remarks through a spokesperson. After taking Monday and Tuesday off, the Senate is expected to gavel in Thursday, which is anticipated to be the final day of the legislative session. Meanwhile, the House continues to push forward.>> Video Below: Oklahoma Senate shuts down for the week, leaving key bills stalled State Rep. Josh West, R-Grove, informed members via email that a quorum would not be needed Wednesday due to the Senate’s absence. “Members, I just sent an email about 10 minutes ago, but we will not be needing a quorum tomorrow because the Senate is not coming in,” West said. Hilbert also confirmed that Senate members received an email instructing them to return at 8 a.m. Thursday. >> Download the KOCO 5 App | Subscribe to KOCO 5’s YouTube channel | Sign up for KOCO 5’s Morning Newsletter“It’s our understanding an email went out a little before noon to all members of the Senate instructing them, they plan to return at 8 a.m. Thursday,” Hilbert said. What remains unclear is which bills the Senate will address Thursday or whether they will attempt to override any vetoes from the governor.Read House Speaker Kyle Hilbert's full emailMembers,In continuing the spirit of utmost openness and transparency, I want to take a few minutes to share with you all a timeline of events over the past few weeks of session in negotiations with the Senate. For members of the Republican Caucus, there probably is not a lot of “new” information in this email as I have done my best to keep you apprised every Monday at caucus. As Judge Judy says, “If you tell the truth, then you don’t have to have a good memory.” So while I am far from perfect, I do my best to keep the majority caucus informed of events as they happen.This morning, the Pro Tem of the Senate had a press conference. During the press conference there were several petty underhanded insults being hurled at me personally as well as the House as a whole. I have no plans to get into a tit-for-tat press conference over this. However, it is important to me that the members of the House of Representatives have accurate information and I would rather over-communicate than under-communicate. On March 31, 2026, the Governor, the President Pro Tem of the Senate and I reached an agreement on the budget. Prior to the budget agreement, I was told by the PPT while sitting beside him in Majority Leader Lawson's office, that the Senate would pass TSET Reset as soon as we passed the PRSA legislation that the Pro Tem Anthony Moore had been working on. Upon finalizing the budget agreement, I was up front with the PPT, that the challenge as we work towards the end of session with already having a budget agreement is that House members are going to want to see their legislation heard in the Senate. I brought up this concern no less than three different times during negotiations. I was repeatedly assured that there was no conspiracy in the Senate to refuse to hear House bills. To which I responded that we would be slowing down the House floor of Senate bills if we ever perceived that House members were not being treated with respect by having their policies receive a fair shake in the Senate. While it was never written down or stated as part of the agreement, it was the understanding and expectation of the House as well as the Governor that all the budget related bills that were JCAB bills, would be put onto the JCAB agenda on the following Monday, April 6. When this did not happen, we reached out concerned were assured by the Senate that they were not playing games and would have the remaining JCAB bills placed on the following Monday's agenda. On April 9, PPT and I met with the Governor to request alterations to our budget agreement for the benefit of increasing benefits to retirees. The Governor agreed to this request to change the COLA start date for TRS from 10+ years to 8+ years and to a bill to provide a one-time tweener stipend for police and fire.The week of April 13 the non-JCAB budget agreement bills still had not all been heard and we again raised our concerns. Our budget team was assured by Senate leadership that the entirety of our budget agreement would be completed the following week.On April 14