OK bill requiring the Governor to inform state leaders when leaving the state advances

After confusion over who was the Acting Governor following a disastrous storm in Tulsa last year, the Senate is pushing to mandate the Governor's communication with state leaders.

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - After confusion over who was the Acting Governor following a disastrous storm in Tulsa last year, the Senate is pushing to mandate the Governor's communication with state leaders.

In June of 2023, there was a period of nearly 24 hours when Oklahoma state leaders were not sure who was Acting Governor.

Governor Kevin Stitt left for the Paris Air Show before the storm hit and Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell left for Georgia a couple days later for an annual national Lt. Governor’s conference.

That left Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, as Acting Governor.

I was unaware of either one of them being gone. I had heard rumors that someone was going to be gone at some point but then we had the issues in Tulsa where a declaration needed to be declared. Our Constitution says the governor cannot exercise gubernatorial authority when he's outside the state of Oklahoma, and that succession goes down: Lieutenant Governor, then to me, then to the Speaker and so on and so forth.

Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat (R-OKC)

Within 45 minutes of Pro Tem Treat finding out he was the Acting Governor, he declared a state of emergency in Tulsa.

To prevent another round of confusion, the Pro Tem has filed Senate Bill 1860.

The proposal would require the Governor to electronically provide the Lt. Governor with his or her plans to leave the state. It must indicate the start date and time and the anticipated return date.

The notification must be provided at least 24 hours in advance.

"Just a simple notification. In the past we have had to have that, but it became readily apparent we needed some kind of formal mechanism," explained Pro Tem Treat.

The legislation was brought up in a Senate General Government Committee meeting Thursday afternoon. It unanimously passed and without debate.

News 4 reached out to the Governor's Office for comment, but was told the Governor doesn't comment on pending legislation.