HB 4300 Oklahoma House · 2026 Regular Session

Children; authorizing certain electronic notice related to child care rules; modifying certain criminal history record search requirement; effective date.

This bill updates Oklahoma's background check requirements for child care facilities. It mandates specific searches - including state criminal records, sex offender registries, and child abuse registries from other states - before issuing licenses, hiring staff, or allowing unsupervised access to children. Exceptions apply for volunteers with parental consent and specialized service professionals. The bill directly affects licensed child care providers, their employees, and individuals seeking unsupervised access to children in these facilities.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Apr 2026

House Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 2, 2026 Last action Apr 22, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

Floor (House) → Floor (Senate) · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was revised from the House to the Senate floor, resulting in significant structural changes to the advisory committees required for child care licensing. The Senate version expands the committee structure into four distinct subcommittees (Residential Services, Child Care Centers, Child Care Homes, and Quality Rating and Improvement System) with specific, varied membership requirements for each. Additionally, the bill's title was updated to reflect that it amends two separate sections of the law (404 and 404.1) and explicitly permits electronic notice for certain requirements.

Scope change

The scope of the bill's requirements changed from a single set of general advisory committees to a specialized, tiered system where different types of child care facilities (residential, centers, homes, and quality rating programs) must form committees with unique member compositions tailored to their specific operational contexts.

REQUIREMENT

The requirement for advisory committees was expanded and specialized; the Senate version mandates four specific subcommittees with tailored member lists for residential services, child care centers, child care homes, and quality rating systems, whereas the House version had fewer, less specific categories.

Committee membership criteria were significantly altered to include specific representatives for rural/urban areas, Native American facilities, Head Start programs, and career technology centers, replacing the broader, less detailed lists in the House version.

A new term limit was added for committee members, restricting them to a maximum of two consecutive three-year terms.

DEFINITION

The bill's title and scope were updated to explicitly state that it amends both Section 404 and Section 404.1 of the Oklahoma Child Care Facilities Licensing Act and now explicitly permits electronic notice for certain provisions.

Senate Committee Substitute for House Bill → Floor (House) · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was converted from a committee substitute version to the final House floor version, which involves significant formatting and structural changes rather than substantive policy shifts. The primary substantive change is the shift in focus from Section 404 (advisory committees) to Section 404.1 (criminal background checks), with the text now explicitly detailing specific search requirements for facility owners, employees, and volunteers. The scope of background checks was expanded to include searches for individuals who have lived outside Oklahoma within the last five years, ensuring a more comprehensive safety net for child care facilities.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding background checks was broadened to include out-of-state residency history (within the last five years) for individuals seeking employment or unsupervised access to children, while the advisory committee section was removed from the floor version.

REQUIREMENT

The detailed composition and appointment rules for four specific advisory committees (Residential Children's Services, Child Care Centers, Child Care Homes, and Quality Rating and Improvement System) were removed in the floor version.

New specific requirements were added mandating multiple types of criminal history, registry, and abuse/neglect searches for facility owners and responsible entities before issuing permits or licenses.

New requirements were added mandating background searches for individuals being employed or granted unsupervised access to children, including a specific provision allowing employment to proceed after 24 hours if a state court search was delayed.

The background check requirements were expanded to include searches for individuals who have lived outside of Oklahoma within the last five years, ensuring checks are conducted in those other states as well.

TECHNICAL

The document title was updated from 'Committee Substitute' to 'House Bill 4300 - Floor Version', and the text was reorganized to focus on Section 404.1 rather than Section 404.

Floor votes · House Mar 2, 2026

How they voted

95–0

Passed · 5 other

Total votes 100

Mar 2, 2026

D Democratic18

18 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican82

77 Yea 5

93% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 20, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported Do Pass, amended by committee substitute Health and Human Services committee; CR filed

upper

Mar 3, 2026

Introduced

First Reading

upper

Mar 3, 2026

Lower · Passed

Engrossed, signed, to Senate

lower

Mar 2, 2026

Committee

Referred for engrossment

lower

Mar 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

Third Reading, Measure passed: Ayes: 94 Nays: 0

lower

Feb 19, 2026

Lower · Passed

CR; Do Pass Health and Human Services Oversight Committee

lower

Feb 4, 2026

Lower · Passed

Policy recommendation to the Health and Human Services Oversight committee; Do Pass Children, Youth and Family Services

lower

Feb 3, 2026

Committee

Referred to Children, Youth and Family Services

lower

Feb 2, 2026

Introduced

First Reading

lower

2 primary · 0 co-sponsors