House Bill 1763 by Rep. Dustin Roberts and Sen. Anthony Sykes was unanimously passed today by the Senate and now goes to the Governor’s office for consideration. The bill, if enacted, reverses legislation passed in 2011 which unclassified Oklahoma Military Department (OMD) employees and returns them to “classified” status. OPEA members from OMD met stressed the importance of the merit system in their agency. Some OMD employees are law enforcement officers and they are more able to perform the duties of their job as classified employees rather than unclassified.
OPEA believes that a merit-based employment system is critical in ensuring that qualified employees are hired and retained and that employees are free to perform their job duties in accordance with policy. We are hopeful that the Governor will sign this bill in to law. OPEA would like to that the OMD staff who worked with the association in developing this bill as well as the legislative authors who brought forth this legislation.
