The Tulsa Regional Chamber’s signature state advocacy trip, OneVoice Day at the Capitol, brought together more than 150 local and state elected officials, community leaders and young professionals over the two-day event. 

From discussions on transportation to tourism to healthcare, many priorities came from the 2026 OneVoice Regional Legislative Agenda, which represents a business-driven consensus on northeast Oklahoma's top policy priorities. 

Katie Henke, senior vice president of government affairs for the Chamber, said being in Oklahoma City with a unified message to the state legislature is by design. 

“Every time that we have the opportunity to come to the Capitol and show the faces behind the process; every time that we are able to share personal stories, it’s that much more impactful,” Henke said. “When the northeast Oklahoma regional business community can give concrete examples of showing how policy is affecting their businesses day-to-day, legislators listen, and that is how we effectively impact change to drive growth for our region and our state.”  

Transportation 

The first panel on Tuesday, hosted at First National Center, focused on transportation corridors that drive growth, including upgrading to federal interstate standards the U.S. 412 corridor among Interstate 35, Tulsa and northwest Arkansas. 

“Another interstate in Oklahoma is incredibly important,” said Tim Gatz, executive director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. “Oklahoma is, and always was, a transportation hub. We are critical not just to local freight, but the entire country’s. The corridors we have are incredibly important.” 

Healthcare 

Next, panelists discussing healthcare emphasized that mental health, as well as healthcare access for both rural and urban areas, will not only make Oklahoma more competitive economically, but it also will help retainresidents and healthcare professionals alike. 

Clay Bullard, director of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA), said that when students can receive Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) training concurrently with their high school education, they will have job opportunities and help enhance local healthcare. 

“If you are tied to your community with a job in the community, you’ll have a reason to stay in a rural community,” he said. 

Legislative leadership 

The discussions also featured commentary from state legislators, including closing remarks from state House Majority Leader Mark Lawson and Speaker Pro Tempore Anthony Moore. 

Moore spoke out against proposals for property tax changes and a $15 minimum wage, warning that both would “stifle” state growth, especially in rural areas. 

“We cannot get rid of our property tax and keep our cities alive,” Moore said, drawing applause from the audience. “It would be a death knell… we’ve got to be careful now, because in three years, I don’t want to vote on a tax increase.” 

What’s next? 

The final panels hosted at the Oklahoma State Capitol focused on how Oklahoma wins the next decade and leverages the creative economy to strengthen Oklahoma’s tourism brand. 

The entire state has an incredible opportunity in 2026 to build momentum for the future, said Amy Blackburn, executive director of the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department (OTRD). She cited as examples theRoute 66 Centennial, NCAA golf, Olympics in Oklahoma City, the NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder, as well as Tulsa’s proposed convention center hotel and hotel/motel tax. 

“We cannot squander this,” Blackburn said. “We have the opportunity to create phonetics over the next three years.” 

TYPROS 

Throughout Monday, Tulsa’s Young Professionals (TYPROS), a community development initiative of the Chamber, held programming of its own for 15 attendees. Highlights included listening to a bi-partisan panel of six state representatives and state senators to participating in the Chamber’s legislative reception. 

“This year has been a very specific strategy to make sure that our TYPROS event aligns with our Chamber event,” said Jonathan Long, the Chamber’s senior vice president of community development. “What we want to do is to make sure young professionals have everything that they need to be able to advocate and understand how to voice their opinion to state legislators. But we also want to make sure to combine that with the logistics and the strategy that we use with OneVoice to be able to be so successful there. So, it’s really been the culmination of taking the ideas and the understandings and the things that young professionals are excited about and combining that with what we’ve been able to do with OneVoice to be successful.”