While SB 634 passed through the Senate and on to the House by a vote of 25-21, it was much closer than many thought possible and had strong bipartisan opposition. That is a direct result of your advocacy and will affect how the bill is viewed as it moves to the House. Thank you for using your collective voices to stand up for public education and your professional organization.

We also want to thank those Senators who also stood up for public educators and voted no on SB 634:

Please reach out and thank someone (or everyone!) who voted no on this bill. Their advocacy does not go unnoticed and will not go unappreciated. As mentioned before, these no votes help weaken the bill as it traverses its next steps in the legislative process. Let them know how much it means to have someone using their vote to stand up for educators.

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Every year, employees who use payroll deduction for professional organization fees and political contributions must sign a written notice saying employees know they don't have to join a professional organization and then confirm they signed it. SB 634 is a barrier designed to discourage membership and a waste of staff time and resources.

This is a targeted attack on the Oklahoma Education Association.

Lawmakers have said it will only affect OEA and not other groups with our exact same tax status. The goal is to specifically target the collective power of educators and support staff. Plain and simple.

The bill targets education organizations. Not plumbers. Not first responders. Not firefighters. Nor any other professional organization.

This is copy-and-paste legislation that has passed in other states. Outside forces push these measures designed to hurt our collective power, and, unfortunately, it works.

The idea has popped up in Oklahoma education committees in the past, but rarely gained traction. However, this year, it was assigned for a vote in the Judiciary Committee, which is chaired by the bill's author, Sen. Julie Daniels.

While the bill has passed the Senate narrowly, the fight is not over. Thank the Senators who voted and no and follow along with all OEA communications (Facebook, Twitter, Legislative Update E-mails, Capitol Catch-Up Mondays at 3 on Facebook, Fried Okra Podcast) for updates on SB 634 as it moves to the House.