SB 169: State government; increasing certain state employee longevity payment amounts. Effective date. Emergency. - Oklahoma

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

MODERATE

This bill updates the state longevity pay statute to include employees of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission and specific public school districts. It also clarifies eligibility rules for legislative session employees and ensures that service in certain higher education and career technology roles counts toward longevity pay.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of longevity pay to include employees of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission and employees of the Oklahoma School for the Blind and the Oklahoma School for the Deaf, in addition to general state employees.

SCOPE

Added a provision authorizing the Oklahoma Conservation Commission to establish its own longevity pay program for employees working under specific conservation district statutes.

Extended eligibility to include employees of the Oklahoma School for the Blind and the Oklahoma School for the Deaf who qualify for longevity pay under existing Title 10 statutes.

Included years of service for employees currently working in job classifications eligible for longevity pay under the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education and the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education.

ELIGIBILITY

Clarified that legislative session employees who have worked for two years or more in part-time status and are eligible for state retirement benefits will be considered continuously employed for longevity calculations, even if they do not currently receive other longevity payments.

Enrolled (final version) → House Committee Substitute for Senate Bill · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was converted from a final enrolled version to a House Committee Substitute, which involved significant reformatting and the removal of the original sponsor list. The substantive policy content regarding longevity pay amounts, eligibility requirements, and statutory references remained unchanged, though the text was restructured with new line breaks and page markers.

Scope change

The scope of applicability and the specific longevity pay amounts did not change; the bill still applies to state employees (excluding schools, commissions, and elected officials) with the same payment schedule.

TECHNICAL

The bill was restructured from a single continuous text into a multi-page format with new line numbers and page headers, likely due to formatting differences between the Senate and House versions.

The original list of Senate sponsors (Hall, Haste, Goodwin, and Kirt) was removed and replaced with a simplified list including only Hall, Haste, Goodwin, and Kane.

New page headers and footers containing 'Committee Substitute' and page numbers (e.g., 'Req. No. 17317') were added to reflect the House version.

The text was reorganized with additional line breaks and spacing, particularly around the longevity pay table and eligibility subsections, but the legal meaning of the text remains identical.

Engrossed → Enrolled (final version) · 3 edits · Apr 29, 2026

MINOR

The bill was finalized into its enrolled version, which added new sponsors to the list of authors and included a declaration of emergency to allow immediate implementation. The core policy regarding longevity pay amounts, eligibility requirements, and service calculations remained substantively unchanged from the engrossed version.

Scope change

The bill's scope of applicability to state employees, conservation districts, and specific schools remains the same; however, the inclusion of an emergency clause allows the law to take effect immediately without waiting for the next fiscal year.

TECHNICAL

Added a declaration of emergency to the act's purpose, enabling immediate legal effect rather than waiting for the start of the next fiscal year.

Expanded the list of Senate and House sponsors to include additional legislators who joined the bill during the final legislative process.

Minor formatting adjustments were made to align the enrolled text with standard final publication requirements, while retaining all substantive policy language.

Amended And Engrossed → Engrossed · 5 edits · Apr 22, 2026

MODERATE

This revision updates the bill's title to reflect its Senate origin and reorganizes the text to clearly define the longevity pay plan. It establishes a specific payment schedule for state employees based on years of service, sets eligibility requirements regarding continuous employment, and clarifies how part-time work counts toward service.

Scope change

The bill's scope is expanded to explicitly include employees of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission, the Oklahoma School for the Blind, and the Oklahoma School for the Deaf, in addition to general state employees.

SCOPE

Added eligibility for longevity pay for employees of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission, the Oklahoma School for the Blind, and the Oklahoma School for the Deaf.

REQUIREMENT

Defined eligibility criteria requiring at least two years of continuous employment or more than 1,000 hours per year, with a 30-day grace period for breaks in service.

DEFINITION

Established a detailed payment schedule awarding $250 to $3,000 annually based on years of service, plus an additional $200-$300 for every two years beyond 20 years.

Clarified that part-time employment counts toward service only if it is continuous for at least five months and involves working more than two-fifths time.

Specified that service performed by administrative law judges and certain court personnel will be counted toward longevity pay eligibility.

Introduced → Amended And Engrossed · 4 edits · Apr 22, 2026

MODERATE

The bill was amended by the House to add an emergency clause, update the statutory reference year from 2024 to 2025, and significantly expand the rules for counting part-time service toward longevity pay. The House version now allows part-time employees to count their service if they worked at least five months continuously and logged more than 2/5 time, whereas the original version required a higher threshold of 150 hours per month. It also clarifies that compensation paid with state fiscal resources counts toward service, with specific exceptions for judges.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding who qualifies for longevity pay was expanded to include a broader range of part-time state employees who previously might have been excluded based on strict hourly thresholds.

TIMELINE

Added an emergency clause to the bill, allowing it to take effect immediately upon signing without waiting for the next legislative session.

TECHNICAL

Updated the reference to the Oklahoma Statutes Supplement from the 2024 session to the 2025 session.

ELIGIBILITY

Changed the eligibility criteria for part-time employees: the House amendment requires only 5 months of continuous employment and working more than 2/5 time, replacing the original requirement of working more than 1,000 hours per year.

DEFINITION

Added a new provision stating that any service performed with compensation paid using state fiscal resources counts toward longevity, with exceptions for judges and justices.

State government; increasing certain state employee longevity payment amounts. Effective date. Emergency.

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