Committees

OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Nicole Miller, R-Edmond, held an interim study examining wrong-way driving in Oklahoma and how emerging technology could help prevent serious and fatal crashes. Miller, chair of the House Appropriations and Budget Transportation Subcommittee, said the study examined Oklahoma’s current efforts, gathered input from other states and explored opportunities to build upon work already underway. "Oklahoma has been using foundational countermeasures to address wrong-way driving, and maintaining those efforts remains essential," Miller said. "As transportation technologies evolve, we have an opportunity to build on that foundation with new tools to detect wrong-way drivers and alert motorists in their path." The study included testimony from Victims of Impaired Drivers, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT), the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA) and transportation officials from other states. Jeff Murrow, executive director of Victims of Impaired Drivers, discussed the impact wrong-way crashes have had on Oklahoma families and efforts to develop earlier warnings for motorists traveling in the path of a wrong-way driver. Murrow said wrong-way crashes resulted in 121 fatalities in Oklahoma from 2020 through 2025. ODOT and OTA officials outlined Oklahoma’s current mitigation efforts, which include pavement markings, oversized signs, reflective markers and wrong-way detection systems. ODOT has deployed wrong-way detection systems at 97 locations across the state. Officials also discussed challenges associated with more advanced systems, including maintenance, staffing, cost and the need for human verification when an alert is triggered. OTA also discussed a prototype system it has developed to detect wrong-way vehicles and evaluate whether drivers correct their course before entering the roadway. The committee also heard from the Arizona Department of Transportation about its wrong-way driving program. Arizona began with a pilot corridor in 2018 and has since expanded its use of thermal detection technology across the state. Arizona officials emphasized the importance of integrating detection technology with existing traffic operations, law enforcement and long-term maintenance. "Understanding the path other states have taken, including their successes and challenges, helps us consider what makes sense for Oklahoma," Miller said. "This study helped us better understand what is working today and where we can build on those efforts as emerging transportation technologies develop, giving us a clearer direction for our next steps." Miller said information gathered during the study will help guide further conversations about wrong-way driving prevention and the potential role of state policy.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Mike Dobrinski, R-Okeene, on Tuesday held an interim study before the House Agriculture Committee examining biochar production and its potential applications in Oklahoma. Study participants first had to learn what biochar is. Dr. Lori Han, with the School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science at the University of Oklahoma, explained biochar is a carbon-rich material made from biomass that undergoes a thermochemical conversion process known as pyrolysis. A simpler way to say this is a once living material, exposed to high heat, becomes a material with new properties.  It is not charcoal, she explained. Instead, it comes from agricultural waste such as crop residue, manure and litter or nut shells. It also can come from trees and shrubs and other wood waste. The product then can be used to improve soil health and water retention, among other uses – turning a negative into a positive, Han said. Dobrinski said he became interested in biochar because of it's promise to transform invasive species, such as eastern red cedars, into something beneficial. "These trees consume enormous amounts of water and have a great potential of becoming fuel for wildfires in areas that experience frequent drought," Dobrinski said. "This causes public safety and conservation issues. We must remove these threats in order to stop the next devastating wildfire and preserve precious resources such as water. If we can create value and benefit at the same time, we want to learn all we can about that. That's the basis of this study." Eric Perner, a licensed professional petroleum/mechanical engineer and the chief operating officer at Rebellion Energy Solutions out of Tulsa, spoke of using eastern red cedars to produce biochar for orphan-well plugging, land restoration and regenerative agriculture in Oklahoma. The benefits of plugging abandoned oil and natural gas wells, Perner said, is mitigating methane gas emissions (super pollutants), protecting groundwater, eliminating public exposure to health and safety risks, increasing property values and allowing for incremental land use. Perner said he's witnessed the restoration of land and the return of native species, such as butterflies and birds, in places where biochar has been applied. He even suggested that data centers and other large energy consumers potentially could make use of biochar to offset water and energy usage at a minimal cost to taxpayers. He said there is so much opportunity that warrants further pursuit. Susan Bergen, chief executive officer of Bergen Enterprises and Prairie Dirt Solutions in Norman, discussed her company's industrial biochar production. They convert wood waste headed for landfills into biochar, which then becomes materials for school playgrounds, landscaping mulch or sawdust. Bergen said the material improves soil function, including aeration, has water-holding capacity, infiltrates and supports organic matter and can be used in crop production and feedstock. She said biochar even has been shown to remove pollutants from water, and the production process creates its own energy.  Matt Chandler, a founder and the CEO of Infinite ECO, detailed opportunities to convert eastern red cedar removal into biochar production, creating additional value from Oklahoma's existing cedar-clearing efforts. Chandler explained Oklahoma already pays to cut and clear invasive species like eastern red cedars every year. If the state doesn't convert the wood into a usable product, however, we're missing an economic opportunity. The state also buys materials every year when instead it could convert wood and agriculture waste into biochar that could be sold or used near where it is made. Cedar char could pay its own way through product sales and carbon credits, he said.? The Terry Peach Water Restoration Act, for example, which was updated through House Bill 2988 and goes into effect statewide Nov. 1, already has $5 million appropriated and has removed almost 16,000 acres of red cedars. The federal government spent about $23.6 million in Oklahoma from 2017 to 2024 on brush management. There's also private funding to consider. The wood from these projects currently is piled, burned or scattered. By turning it into biochar, the state could save or even make money, and could enjoy benefits such as stormwater and erosion control, stabilizing roadbeds, removing pollutants and more, Chandler said. It's a Dust Bowl-sized problem that will take effort from multiple sources to attack in a way that becomes regenerative going forward, he said, but it is possible. The study can be viewed on the House website under News & Media, Live Proceedings, then search calendar for 1:30 p.m. Oct. 20 for the specific study.

Oklahoma lawmakers examined the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), nutrition initiatives and home-delivered meal services during a combined interim study Thursday, exploring ways to improve program integrity, expand access to nutritious food and strengthen outcomes for Oklahoma families. The study combined three topics requested by Rep. Daniel Pae, R-Lawton, Rep. Emily Gise, R-Oklahoma City, and Rep. Cynthia Roe, R-Lindsay. The lawmakers said the study provided an opportunity to examine both immediate challenges associated with federal SNAP changes and longer-term approaches to improving nutrition and food access. "Food assistance is about more than putting food on the table," Pae said. "We need to understand whether these programs are working as intended, whether taxpayer dollars are being used responsibly and whether Oklahomans are getting the resources they need to build healthier, more independent lives. These conversations will help inform the work ahead as we prepare for the upcoming legislative session." "Home-delivered meals are just one example of how a targeted service can address multiple problems at a time," Gise said. "For some Oklahomans, access to nutritious meals can help them manage health conditions, remain independent and avoid costly institutional care. We should continue examining the outcomes of these programs and identify opportunities to make them work better for the people who truly need them." Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) Director Jeffrey Cartmell said the agency prevented more than $5 million in erroneous benefit payments after tripling new employee training time, implementing additional quality-control checkpoints and reviewing more than 75,000 cases over the past year. The state’s most recently federally certified SNAP payment error rate was 11.04%. Cartmell said the agency anticipated a rate between 6.5% and 8.5%, though final figures remained subject to additional reviews . Cartmell explained that incomplete applications, additional verification requirements and repeated requests for documentation can increase the agency’s workload even as participation declines. However, he emphasized that program performance should be evaluated not only by processing metrics but also by whether families become more stable and move toward greater independence. "Our agency has four goals, four pillars that we hold near and dear to what we believe," Cartmell said . "The third one of those is that Oklahoma should have the strongest pathways to prosperity—not the strongest safety net, not the most benefits, the strongest pathways for prosperity. And once we really start measuring programs like SNAP, not on outputs, but on outcomes, we can get closer to that." Alexina Cather, director of policy and communications for Wellness in the Schools, discussed research on school nutrition and the relationship between healthier meals and public health outcomes. According to Hunger Free Oklahoma estimates, more than one in four Oklahoma children do not get the food they need and nearly seven in 10 public school students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. Cather said , "Meal quality isn't a side issue"—instead, she described it as a "public health lever." She highlighted research suggesting improved school nutrition standards helped reduce obesity rates among children living in poverty. Cather also discussed nutrition initiatives in California, Michigan and New York, along with opportunities for Oklahoma to build on existing school meal programs. The latter half of the study focused on home-delivered meals, highlighting the potential to improve health outcomes, support independent living and reduce the costs associated with institutional care. Tara Searles, director of business development for Mom’s Meals, described the company’s medically tailored meal services and their potential to help older adults, people with disabilities and individuals managing chronic health conditions. Searles also discussed a potential pathway for eligible SNAP participants to purchase medically tailored, home-delivered meals. Searles said Mom's Meals has delivered more than 630,000 meals to more than 8,500 clients in the state over the previous 12 months. Additionally, the organization employs around 180 people and purchased over 97,000 locally sourced ingredients in 2025 alone. Jeff Barteau, CEO of Homestyle Direct, described the company’s work providing meals to Oklahoma Medicaid beneficiaries through the Advantage Waiver Program. "For an older or disabled Oklahoman living alone, the inability to prepare reliable, appropriate meals is often the first thing that makes their home unsafe," Barteau told the committee. Barteau said home-delivered meals can help address food insecurity while supporting individuals who want to remain in their homes rather than entering institutional care. He pointed out that an annual cost of one home-delivered meal per day is about $2,200, less than 3% of the $82,000 cost to provide care for someone living in a nursing facility. Sara Marlow Fulks, advocacy and public policy officer for Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, discussed the role food banks play in addressing food insecurity. She said Oklahoma’s two food banks served more than 2 million summer meals in 2026, with most distributed through noncongregate options that allow families to take meals home. "SNAP truly is the first line of defense when it comes to serving food insecurity," Fulks said . "It's the most dignifiable way to serve our food insecure neighbors." Fulks also highlighted the proposed Farmers Against Hunger initiative, a $2 million pilot program developed with the Oklahoma Farm Bureau and Oklahoma Pork Council. If funded, the initiative is estimated to provide 3 million pounds of locally raised meat to families in need while supporting Oklahoma farmers and processors. "This is an innovative, common-sense approach to fighting hunger," Gise said. "It supports Oklahoma agriculture while putting nutritious food on the tables of families who need it most." Leslie Young, program director for Double Up Oklahoma, described how the program helps SNAP participants purchase fresh fruits and vegetables by providing incentives for eligible purchases. Young said the initiative has helped hundreds of thousands of SNAP customers purchase produce. She pointed to a three-month follow up where participants had increased their fruit and vegetable intake by almost one serving per day. "This study demonstrated that addressing food insecurity requires more than one program or one organization," Roe said. "By bringing together people working on different parts of that challenge, we can better understand what is working, where the gaps are and what improvements may be worth considering in the next legislative session."