Committee advances bill to verify U.S. citizenship for some benefit applicants

Speaker 2 introduced House Bill 44‑22 to the Oklahoma House Committee on Children, Youth and Family, saying the measure would require benefit applicants to be screened through the state’s SAFE system to verify U.S. citizenship. The sponsor said the initial draft had prompted concern and that the bill was amended to remove child‑only and WIC provisions before presentation.

Supporters framed the change as protecting the integrity of welfare dollars and responding to constituent concerns about eligibility. "We want to make sure that those recipients of these dollars are in fact American citizens," the presenter said, noting the change stemmed from prior federal conversations.

Opponents did not press extended debate in committee; after a brief question period the chair moved for passage. The committee recorded votes and reported the PCS as passed with a tally of 7 yes and 1 no. The committee clerk reported the PCS out to the next level for further consideration.

The sponsor acknowledged the PCS is a working draft and described it as subject to continued amendment as the bill advances. The committee did not adopt additional amendments during the session and did not set a floor date in the meeting.