All Roll Calls
Yes: 267 • No: 47
OklahomaHB 2769Oklahoma 2026 Regular SessionHouseWALLET
Militia; Military Department; Adjutant General's duties; eligibility; authority; technology hardware or software; exempting federal programs; nonjudicial punishment; court-martial; creating National Guard CareerTech Assistance Program; creating revolving fund; effective date.
Sponsored By: Trey Caldwell (Republican)
Became Law
Senate Committee
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
12 provisions identified: 6 benefits, 3 costs, 3 mixed.
Guard families can share education benefits
Beginning November 1, 2025, qualifying Oklahoma National Guard members can transfer up to 36 months of education benefits to eligible dependents. Rules can lower that limit, but not below 18 months. Members generally need six years of Guard service and an agreement to serve four more years, unless regulations set another service requirement. Initial transfers generally require current Guard service; remaining benefits can be reassigned even after the member leaves. The Adjutant General cannot impose a maximum years-of-service requirement for transfer eligibility. Spouses can use benefits after the required service is completed. Children must also finish secondary school or reach age 18, and generally use benefits before age 26. The law provides age extensions, death-related transfer exceptions, and rules for responsibility for overpayments.
Guard tuition help carries service obligations
The law creates tuition-equivalent help for required courses in technology center programs leading to certificates or licenses. Current Oklahoma National Guard members must be in good standing, have a diploma or GED, and attend a qualifying school. Each assisted semester requires at least one enlistment year remaining. Members must sign an agreement to finish their current obligation and serve 24 months after their last assisted semester. They must meet school requirements, keep a 2.0 GPA and satisfactory Guard participation, and hold a military specialty after the first semester. Help lasts up to three years, depending on available money and Military Department caps. Uncompleted service requires repayment equal to total aid multiplied by unserved months divided by 24; written hardship waivers are available. Beginning November 1, 2025, a continuing state fund supports the program without a specified funding amount.
Early retirement payments for qualifying Guard retirees
Beginning November 1, 2027, qualifying Oklahoma National Guard retirees get state payments before federal retirement benefits begin. Members need enough retirement service credit earned before the law's effective date, plus at least 25 years of military service. They must retire from the Oklahoma National Guard without an active-duty military pension. Annual payments equal the federal-age retirement amount plus the applicable cost-of-living adjustment, paid in 12 equal monthly installments. Payments end when federal retirement benefits begin or the member dies; survivors receive no payments. A dedicated continuing fund supports payments, but sets no funding amount; payments are prorated when money is short.
Military officers regain service after overturned dismissals
The Governor can reappoint a commissioned officer whose executed court-martial dismissal is not imposed at a new trial. Reappointment does not require a vacancy, and the Governor sets the rank the officer otherwise would have reached. Time between dismissal and reappointment counts as service for all purposes, including pay and allowances. The Governor can also direct effects on other officers' promotion status. The Governor or Adjutant General must set pay rules for periods after an executed sentence is set aside. Those rules can limit eligibility, so setting aside a sentence alone does not guarantee payment.
Military state employees get equal compensation
Full-time Oklahoma state employees serving in military roles receive equal compensation, benefits, and entitlements to full-time active-duty members. The comparison uses the same rank and time in grade. The law does not set a fixed dollar amount.
Guard punishment rules balance penalties and protections
Members receiving notice of planned nonjudicial punishment must respond within 45 calendar days. The Governor or Adjutant General can delegate punishment authority to a commanding officer in the accused member's force component, subject to the retained statutory exception. Enlisted penalties include forfeiture or fines up to seven days' pay, withheld privileges up to six months, and one-grade reductions subject to rank limits. Extra duties and restrictions can each last up to 14 days. For punishments imposed by officers at major grade or higher, limits include half a month's pay per month for two months and fines up to one month's pay. Those authorities can impose extra duties up to 45 days, restrictions up to 60 days, and withheld privileges up to six months. Only a Brigadier General or the Adjutant General can reduce an E-8 or E-9 member's rank; a colonel can consider reductions for E-7 and below. Members have notice, counsel, and appeal protections, including limits on increased punishment on appeal. Forfeitures cover only pay earned after punishment; nonjudicial punishment does not block civilian prosecution.
State Guard pay restrictions are removed
The law removes the ban on paying Oklahoma State Guard members outside state active duty. This allows state compensation or monetary allowances outside that duty status. It does not require payment or set an amount.
Military law strengthens protection against family violence
People covered by Oklahoma military law can face court-martial for listed violence against spouses, intimate partners, or immediate family members. Covered conduct includes offenses against people or property intended to threaten or intimidate those family members. It also includes protection-order violations with the required intent and strangling or suffocating during an assault. The court-martial determines punishment.
State military members face marijuana ban
Oklahoma state military forces members cannot knowingly use or ingest marijuana or marijuana-derived products. The ban expressly includes hemp, THC, and CBD. Violations expose covered members to military discipline.
Military members face broader punishable offenses
Oklahoma military law incorporates offenses specifically listed in the federal general article, including later amendments, except provisions inconsistent with federal law. When conduct also breaks Oklahoma criminal law, a separate state jurisdiction rule determines which system handles it. Forgery includes fraudulently making or changing writings affecting another person's legal rights, or knowingly passing those writings along. Being drunk on duty is punishable for all covered personnel, including sentinels and lookouts. Courts-martial determine punishment for forgery and drunken duty.
Tighter qualifications for Oklahoma Guard leadership
An Adjutant General appointee must be a federally recognized, currently serving Oklahoma National Guard colonel or higher. The appointee needs at least eight years of Guard service; a non-general must qualify for a federal Certificate of Eligibility. The law removes the exception for recently qualified former officers during active federal service. The Governor and Adjutant General decide joint headquarters staffing, without set staffing levels or added funding. The Governor issues Guard rules by executive order covering enlistment, organization, administration, equipment, discipline, and discharge. The Adjutant General must publish those rules as military publications; these requirements now cover the National Guard rather than the State Guard.
Guard justice rules add safeguards and duties
The law names Oklahoma National Guard members, rather than State Guard members, as state military forces under the military justice coverage rule. National Guard members are subject to Oklahoma's military justice code. Federal officials need the Governor's prior written, published consent to convene a state-code court-martial. Oklahoma adopts the federal courts-martial manual and later amendments, except rules conflicting with Oklahoma military law. Enlisted members must receive explanations of specified justice rules within 90 days after each reenlistment and after basic or recruit training. Electronic or online access satisfies requests by officers and enlisted members to examine the code and regulations.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsor
Trey Caldwell
Republican • House
Cosponsors
Chuck Hall
Republican • Senate
John Haste
Republican • Senate
John Kane
Republican • House
Jacob Rosecrants
Democratic • House
Roll Call Votes
House vote • 5/29/2025
OVERRIDE
Yes: 79 • No: 6
Senate vote • 5/29/2025
OVERRIDE
Yes: 32 • No: 14
Senate vote • 5/22/2025
THIRD READING
Yes: 25 • No: 18
House vote • 5/20/2025
THIRD READING
Yes: 82 • No: 5
House vote • 5/19/2025
DO PASS
Yes: 27 • No: 1
Senate vote • 5/19/2025
Committee vote: Joint Committee on Appropriations and Budget
Yes: 22 • No: 3
Actions Timeline
Filed with Secretary of State
5/29/2025HouseMeasure returned to House
5/29/2025SenateVeto overridden: Ayes: 32 Nays: 14
5/29/2025SenateTo Senate
5/29/2025HouseVeto overridden: Ayes: 79 Nays: 6
5/29/2025HouseVetoed 05/28/2025
5/28/2025HouseSent to Governor
5/22/2025HouseEnrolled measure signed, returned to House
5/22/2025SenateEnrolled, signed, to Senate
5/22/2025HouseEngrossed measure signed, returned to House
5/22/2025SenateMeasure passed: Ayes: 25 Nays: 18
5/22/2025SenateReferred for enrollment
5/22/2025HouseJCR adopted
5/22/2025SenateDirect to Calendar
5/21/2025SenateCoauthored by Representative Rosecrants
5/20/2025SenateFirst Reading
5/20/2025SenateEngrossed, signed, to Senate
5/20/2025HouseReferred for engrossment
5/20/2025HouseThird Reading, Measure passed: Ayes: 82 Nays: 5
5/20/2025HouseJCR adopted
5/20/2025HouseGeneral Order
5/20/2025HouseJCR; Do pass, amended by committee substitute Joint Committee on Appropriations and Budget
5/19/2025HouseSecond Reading referred to Joint Committee on Appropriations and Budget
2/4/2025HouseCoauthored by Senator(s) Haste
2/3/2025HouseAuthored by Senator Hall (principal Senate author)
2/3/2025House
Bill Text
Enrolled (final version)
5/22/2025
Engrossed
5/20/2025
Floor (House)
5/19/2025
House Committee Substitute
5/19/2025
House Joint Committee Report
5/19/2025
Introduced
1/16/2025
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