By: Janna Clark
OKLAHOMA CITY — After a series of FOX23 investigations into Green Country homeowners left with unfinished swimming pools and tens of thousands of dollars in losses, an Oklahoma lawmaker pushed legislation designed to add protections for consumers hiring pool contractors.
But despite passing the Oklahoma House and a Senate committee, the bill never received a final vote in the Senate before the legislative session ended.
Rep. Chris Banning, R-Bixby, authored House Bill 3338, known as the “Pool Contractor Act,” after hearing complaints from constituents and seeing FOX23 investigations involving Tulsa-based Midwest Pools.
“I had a person in my district call and say, ‘I’m a pool contractor, and we have a problem in the pool industry,’” Banning said.
The proposed legislation would have created a licensing program for swimming pool and spa contractors in Oklahoma. Banning said the goal was to increase accountability and better protect consumers.
“There are regulations around plumbing, around electrical, which are both inside of the pool industry, but there wasn’t anything for the pool,” Banning said.
The bill also included provisions involving liens filed by subcontractors.
That issue became a concern for Tulsa homeowner Melinda Mavers, who said subcontractors contacted her directly after Midwest Pools allegedly failed to pay them for work completed on her pool.
“They called me directly, each one of them, that they did not get paid,” Mavers said.
FOX23 has reported on multiple homeowners who said they paid Midwest Pools large sums of money for pools that were never completed.
Tammy Schreiber of Coweta said Midwest Pools only marked her yard with paint and stakes before work stopped. She said she paid nearly $30,000.
“They drew the lines, and that’s it,” Schreiber said.
Susan Sloan of Collinsville said she and her husband paid nearly $50,000 for a pool that was never finished.
“We just got hoodwinked,” Sloan said.
Debbie Adkins of Muskogee said she paid Midwest Pools $46,000 and was left with a large hole in her yard.
“This has been a nightmare,” Adkins said. “You can’t sleep at night.”
Scott Bakkala, owner of Vista Pools, supported the legislation and said customers frequently come to his company after paying other contractors for incomplete work.
“Many customers have incomplete projects or projects that never started and they’ve already paid out tens of thousands of dollars,” Bakkala said.
The bill passed the House and was later cleared by a Senate committee. Banning said he believed it would receive final approval.
Instead, the Senate never brought the measure up for a vote before the session deadline.
“I honestly believe that the bills that I saw come through last Thursday, there were a lot of lobbyists’ request bills, and I think that we should start pushing forward constituent request bills before any lobbyist bills are considered,” Banning said.
Banning said he was not given an official explanation for why the bill was not heard on the Senate floor.
Senate leaders previously said they did not have enough time to hear all House bills before the end of session.
During a news conference, Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton said legislative leaders believed they had completed the work necessary before adjournment.
Banning said he plans to file the same bill again next legislative session.
“This one is dead,” Banning said. “Next year I will run the exact same legislation, exact same language.”
Meanwhile, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond confirmed his office is investigating Midwest Pools after receiving multiple consumer complaints.
“We began with Midwest Pools with three or four complaints,” Drummond said. “As that has become more broadly broadcast through your station, other aggrieved consumers have reported the same, and we continue to broaden the scope of the Midwest Pools investigation.”
FOX23 reached out to Midwest Pools owner Jeff Johnson for comment. Johnson previously told FOX23 in December, “No comment at this time.” FOX23 has not recently received a response to additional requests for comment.
