Sen. Dossett hosts joint study on state use program participation

OKLAHOMA CITY – Sen. Jo Anna Dossett, D-Tulsa, held a joint interim study at the state Capitol with Rep. Ellyn Hefner, D-Oklahoma City, to discuss participation in Oklahoma’s State Use Program, which manages state contracts with suppliers who provide employment to individuals with disabilities. Participants in the study included leaders of nonprofit organizations who employ disabled and blind individuals, such as A New Leaf, South Central Industries, and New View Oklahoma. The study also featured a speaker from the state agency that administers the State Use Program, and a national expert on the topic.

Dossett and Hefner share a bill related to State Use Program participation. House Bill 1836 seeks to modify the requirements nonprofit organizations must meet to participate in State Use. The study generated ideas for advancing the bill in the Senate, where it currently awaits a hearing in the Retirement and Government Resources Committee.

“Oklahoma nonprofits employing blind and disabled individuals do a great service to our communities,” Dossett said. “The State Use Program ensures the products and services they provide make it back into the economy, benefitting the state as a whole. During the study, we heard from nonprofits who are suppliers in the State Use Program and nonprofits who are not, and we heard about some of their labor and wage practices. Their shared expertise will inform how we move forward with HB 1836 in the Senate.”

“I look forward to HB 1836 advancing through the Senate in a way that benefits the laborers who are the bedrock of their participating nonprofit organizations and the State Use Program as a whole,” Hefner said.

HB 1836 must be heard in its Senate committee and on the Senate floor in the upcoming legislative session.

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CUTLINE: Sen. Jo Anna Dossett, D-Tulsa, and Rep. Ellyn Hefner, D-Oklahoma City.

For more information, contact:  Sen. Jo Anna Dossett: (405) 521-5624 or JoAnna.Dossett@oksenate.gov