House passes municipal audit overhaul for small towns and declares emergency (89-0)

Representative Bowles told members that House Bill 34 63 is a request from the state auditor's office to update and modernize municipal audit procedures for small communities with fewer than 2,500 residents, saying the change will increase transparency and accountability in how taxpayer funds are spent at the municipal level.

Bowles said a prior legislative effort created a task force with the auditor's office, the Oklahoma Municipal League and a large CPA firm to craft modern agreed-upon audit procedures, and the current bill codifies those procedures into law.

Representative McCain asked about agreed-upon procedures and Bowles explained the earlier task force work and the need to update audit language that dated back before the use of credit cards.

On third reading the House recorded an 89-0 vote to pass the bill and then recorded the two-thirds vote necessary to declare an emergency, allowing the measure to take immediate effect as announced by the Speaker.