Oklahoma House announces leadership appointments for 56th Legislature

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — The Oklahoma House of Representative Speaker-designate has announced leadership appointments for the 56th Legislature.

Speaker-designate Charles A. McCall announced that Rep. Jon Echols will serve as majority floor leader.

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“The challenge is to run the House in an efficient, open and transparent way that promotes trust among the members and keeps the Republican caucus unified. Our goal is to promote bold policy ideas that create jobs and make Oklahomans more prosperous and to make government more efficient and accountable to taxpayers," Echols said.

State Rep. Leslie Osborne has been tapped to serve as chair of the House Appropriations & Budget Committee. She is the first Republican woman to lead the House budget committee.

“Developing a budget is our biggest challenge in the Legislature every year. Like last year, we will be working with reduced revenues, but I believe we have real opportunities to prioritize spending and make our state government more efficient," Osborne said.

McCall also named Rep. Terry O-Donnell to serve as majority whip. Rep. Mike Sanders will serve as majority leader.

More leadership appointments are expected in the coming weeks.