SB 159 Oklahoma Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Veterans; establishing certain center; requiring collaborations. Effective date.

SB 159 requires the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs to establish a veterans resource center in Del City, Oklahoma, serving as a hub to connect veterans with public and private services through information and referral. It mandates all state agencies providing veteran services to collaborate with this center to streamline access to support. The bill creates a centralized point for veterans to find assistance and ensures state agencies coordinate through the Del City location. The center becomes operational starting November 1, 2025.

Issues: ✓ Veterans

Bill status died 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 3, 2025 Last action Mar 3, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

SB159 (3-11-25) (MANN) FA2.PDF → Floor (Senate) · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to establish a new veterans resource center in Del City, Oklahoma, and create an Oklahoma Unified Veteran Services Commission to study and recommend resources for the new facility. The original draft focused only on establishing the center, while the floor version adds a 11-member commission to evaluate costs, potential sites, and architectural plans, with a report due by December 31, 2026.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from a simple directive to create a veterans resource center to include the creation of a new commission with 11 members to study and recommend resources for the facility

REQUIREMENT

Created a new 11-member Oklahoma Unified Veteran Services Commission with members from both legislative chambers, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and other state agencies to study and recommend resources for the new veterans center

Added a requirement that all state agencies providing services to veterans must collaborate with the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide services through the new veterans resource center

Added a requirement for the Department to establish a publicly available online interactive portal for veterans services

Modified the original directive to specify that the veterans resource center must be located in Del City, Oklahoma

TIMELINE

Added a requirement that the Commission submit its report on potential sites, architectural renderings, and financial evaluations no later than December 31, 2026

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 13, 2025

Committee

Referred to Appropriations

upper

Feb 13, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reported Do Pass, amended by committee substitute Veterans and Military Affairs committee; CR filed

upper

Feb 3, 2025

Introduced

First Reading

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors