Redbud Time

Redbud Time

A redbud tree has a lot of meaning for me because it always takes me back to my favorite Great Aunt. Her name was Vera Clifton and during my childhood she and my Great Uncle lived on a wooded acreage in Nicoma Park, Oklahoma. She was my maternal grandfather’s sister. I never met my grandfather because he died before I was born. It was interesting looking back how much I knew about my grandfather and what kind of guy he was through being around his sister. I learned a lot from who became my stand-in grandparents. From my Uncle Junius Clifton, who most people called Cliff, I learned a lot about chainsaws and power tools at a very young age. Stuff a boy just needs to know. From my Aunt Vera, I learned about the everyday beauty in the world around us. Her favorite tree in the entire world was a redbud. Just a native Oklahoma tree that shows up for a couple of weeks in the Spring. She was a very special woman in my life not only because she thought I walked on water, but because looking back, I know that I knew my grandfather because she made him seem alive to me through all of her stories. I remember she always had bird feeders out and could always identify each of the birds outside her big picture window. Being at the Cliftons’ house was just kind of a magical time. I planted a redbud tree in our front yard just because it reminds me of Aunt Vera and it says Spring is here. Time to enjoy the turn of that season, fish for crappie or hunt mushrooms. Redbud trees are almost like a flare shot into the pitch dark night. Whether they are wild on the creek or planted in a yard, they always take me back to great childhood memories of people long gone who helped make me who I am.
Well, that was nice. But, I guess since we are about halfway through session, I better throw you some politics in here. Here are a couple of things that we have seen in the last week or so come through the capitol. They are a lot more boring than redbuds. But, it is like an old friend of mine says “we have got it to do so let’s get on with it”.
Legislation modernizing the Commissioners of the Land Office is headed to the governor.
House Bill 3026 creates the Commissioners of the Land Office Reform and Modernization Act. The legislation puts in place a modern management infrastructure for the land trust, improves accounting practices in accord with best practices and recent audit recommendations, and updates or repeals obsolete statutes and rules. The bill has already cleared the House and passed the Senate this week. It now goes to the governor for his signature. In recent years, outdated institutional practices and accounting systems led to the opportunity for mismanagement of the agency. The Commissioners of the Land Office, better known as the "School Land Trust," is a constitutional, non-appropriated agency that administers the school land trust funds for the production of income for the support and maintenance of the common schools and the schools of higher education.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner would receive a new facility near the world-class University of Central Oklahoma’s Forensic Science Institute if legislation passed by House committee this week becomes law. Senate Bill 1337 would require that the Medical Examiner’s office be located in "close proximity" to the Forensic Science Institute in Edmond. The title is off the bill, meaning it is still a work in progress and will go to conference for further work. The newly-opened Forensic Science Institute trains much sought-after pathologists who could assist the Medical Examiner’s Office in its work. The University of Central Oklahoma has built a nationally-renowned forensic science program with a new state-of-the-art facility, which will help bring the medical examiner’s office into the Twenty-First century. The bill passed the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Judiciary and Public Safety today with a vote of 9-1. It will next been considered by the full House.

The House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee has passed a bill that would allow law enforcement officers of the Department of Public Safety to obtain part-time employment during any period of furlough. Senate Bill 1810 would allow Highway Patrol and other law enforcement officers prohibited from part-time employment elsewhere to seek that employment during a period of furlough. Although legislators hope to avoid a situation in which furloughs occur, with uncertain state revenue and a massive downturn, it is important to create a safety net for officers by allowing them to seek part-time employment. The restriction from part-time employment would go back into effect two weeks after the furlough. Senate Bill 1810 will be heard next on the House floor.

If you would like to contact me while I am at the capitol, please do not hesitate to send an email to donarmes@house.gov or call me at 1-800-522-8502.

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:

“Nature never goes out of style.” –Author unknown