House extends sunset for behavioral health licensure board and declares emergency

The Oklahoma House approved Senate Bill 397 on third reading and later declared an emergency, extending the sunset date for the State Board of Behavioral Health Licensure to July 1, 2028.

Representative Osborne explained the bill as a holdover from last year and said it “simply extends the sunset for the board of behavioral health licensure to 07/01/2028.” He told members a dispute between the board and some higher-education institutions that had delayed action last year had been resolved and urged the House to advance the extension.

There was one brief procedural question from Representative Williams asking who serves on the board; Osborne said he did not have the member list available and offered to follow up. The bill advanced to third reading, the clerk activated the voting machine and a recorded roll call occurred.

The clerk’s entries in the transcript include multiple named 'aye' votes recorded on the machine and subsequent summary entries that the clerk reported as '90' (yeas) and '1' (nay) in the printed record; the Speaker declared the bill passed. Representative Osman then moved to declare an emergency on the bill; the Speaker said the two-thirds threshold was met and declared the emergency passed.

The bill’s text (as read on the floor) was attributed to Kendricks of the House and Bergstrom of the Senate and would extend the statutory sunset date for the licensure board. Representatives asked for follow-up information about board membership, and the sponsor offered to provide those details if requested.

With the emergency declared, the sponsor and supporters said the change will take immediate effect once the enrolled bill is processed.