Greg Treat

Greg Treat (born May 9, 1978) is an American Republican politician from Oklahoma and the current President Pro Tempore of the Oklahoma Senate. He represents district 47, which includes parts of Oklahoma City, Edmond, Deer Creek, and Bethany. He has served in the Senate since 2011.[1]

Greg Treat
President pro tempore of the Oklahoma Senate
Assumed office
January 3, 2019
Preceded byMike Schulz
Majority Leader of the Oklahoma Senate
In office
January 3, 2017  January 3, 2019
Preceded byMike Schulz
Succeeded byKim David
Member of the Oklahoma Senate
from the 47th district
Assumed office
January 10, 2011
Preceded byTodd Lamb
Personal details
Born (1978-05-09) May 9, 1978
Political partyRepublican
SpouseMaressa Treat
EducationUniversity of Oklahoma (BA)

Treat is an Oklahoma City resident and an alumnus of the University of Oklahoma. Prior to taking office, he was a campaign director for several Republican campaigns in the state.[1]

Career

Elections

Treat was first elected to his seat in a 2011 special election to replace Todd Lamb, who left his seat to become Oklahoma's lieutenant governor. He defeated four other candidates in the Republican primary and did not face a Democratic opponent. He was reelected in 2012 without opposition and defeated Democrat Judy Mullen Hopper in 2016 with 66.35% of the vote.[2]

Legislation

In 2019, Treat authored a bill to create the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency,[3] an entity to increase transparency and accountability in state government by providing the public and lawmakers independent, objective data on state spending and program performance. Treat also authored several landmark government accountability] measures that give the governor the ability to hire and fire the director of five of the largest state agencies.[4] Treat authored Senate Bill 1848 in 2014, which required abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles (48 km) of their practice. The law was struck down by the Oklahoma Supreme Court in 2016, with the court citing Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt as a precedent.[5][6]

Controversies

Treat accepted money from the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission, a pro-cockfighting political action committee.[7]

In April 2023, a "week before the deadline for bills to be heard in the opposite chamber's committees," Treat and the Speaker of the House, Charles McCall, were said to "continue to throw jabs at each other's education plans," leading parents and educators to be concerned there wouldn't be a solution that session.[8] As the session neared its end, both McCall and Treat still had not come to an agreement.[9] It was reported that the "two sides didn't even agree on how much they had been talking about education."[10] McCall reportedly thought the talks were going well, while Treat said he didn't feel "very hopeful."[11]

For school vouchers in a bill introduced in 2023, Treat acknowledged that "private schools wouldn’t be forced to admit all students, but he believes schools would expand enrollment when more families can afford it." Democrats have had concerns that "there are no assurances that low-income students would be admitted into a private school." Treat has also accused House Speaker Charles McCall of "refusing to negotiate and said the Senate’s income cap was a “more responsible” school choice plan."[12]

References

  1. "Senator Greg Treat - District 47". Oklahoma State Legislature. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
  2. "Greg Treat". Ballotpedia. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
  3. "Oklahoma State Senate - News". Archived from the original on 2019-07-10. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  4. "Senate sends landmark government accountability bills to governor | Oklahoma Senate".
  5. Hoberock, Barbara (June 28, 2016). "Supreme Court's abortion ruling expected to affect Oklahoma law". Tulsa World. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
  6. "Oklahoma court tosses abortion law on hospital privileges". The Oklahoman. Associated Press. December 13, 2016. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
  7. Savage, Mike Allen and Tres; Savage, Tres (2023-02-26). "Cockfighting fight turns back time at Oklahoma Capitol". NonDoc. Retrieved 2023-04-09.
  8. May, Payton (2023-04-07). "Oklahoma education standstill could head to a conference committee for negotiation". KOKH. Retrieved 2023-04-09.
  9. "News 9". OKLAHOMA SESSION NEARING IT'S END, LAWMAKERS STILL DISAGREE ON EDUCATION. 13 April 2023.
  10. Weber, Andy (2023-04-13). "Back-and-forth between House, Senate leaders continues amid education policy debate". KOCO. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  11. May, Payton (2023-04-13). "Education standstill continues with House and Senate on different pages over negotiations". KOKH. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  12. "Once focused on low-income students, Oklahoma's school choice effort goes 'universal'". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
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