Finally!

The governor and legislative leaders have reached an agreement on a final budget framework for next fiscal year, a move that should clear the way for an orderly adjournment of the 2010 legislative session. To fill a 1.2 billion revenue hole created by the national recession, the governor and legislative leaders have proposed a balanced budget using a series of targeted agency cuts, reserve and stimulus funds, cost recovery methods and other savings and efficiencies across state government. The agreement is designed to shield core services by enacting smaller, targeted cuts to key agencies in education, health care, public safety, transportation and other priority areas. Under the FY 2011 agreement, 6.68 billion in general revenue will be appropriated to state agencies and programs, a 7.6 percent reduction in total appropriations from the original FY 2010 budget. Cost recovery methods will include, among other things, expedited tax collections, increased permit fees and a moratorium on selected tax credits. As part of the agreement, K-12 education and career technology education will receive targeted cuts of just 2.9 percent to help avert teacher layoffs and other classroom reductions. Higher education’s budget will be reduced by 3.3 percent. The Department of Public Safety will be cut by only 1 percent in an effort to head off trooper furloughs. The Department of Corrections will receive a 3 percent reduction. The agreement also calls for providing additional, long-term funding to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation for road and bridge maintenance and repair efforts. Despite receiving a small decrease in state appropriations, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority will receive an increase in overall funding from other sources to address expected cost increases in health care programs. The Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services will be cut by 0.5 percent and the Department of Veterans Affairs by 3.5 percent. The agreement also calls for a 5 million line-item appropriation to senior nutrition programs and 12.4 million to the Rural Economic Action Plan or REAP. In the final days of the legislative session, lawmakers will work to pass a variety of bills needed to implement the budget agreement, including a general appropriations bill. The Legislature must adjourn by no later than 5 p.m., Friday, May 28.

Legislation seeking to boost Oklahoma’s alternative energy usage, especially locally-produced natural gas and wind, overwhelmingly passed the House this week. House Bill 3028 creates the Oklahoma Energy Security Act. The legislation seeks to reduce the dependence of Oklahoma and the United States on foreign oil and to improve the economic well-being of the citizens of Oklahoma by increasing the use of domestic energy and renewable energy production both in Oklahoma and beyond. The legislation creates a renewable energy standard for Oklahoma, which will set a goal for the state that aims to best utilize the state’s abundant natural resources. The renewable energy standard will be that 15 percent of all electricity generated within the state by the year 2015 be generated from renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, geothermal and energy conservation efforts. About 35 states have some form of renewable portfolio standard. Arkansas is the only neighboring state without one. The legislation would not serve as a mandate, but instead will set a goal for Oklahoma energy companies to meet.
The bill also creates a natural gas energy standard that will help promote natural gas energy development in Oklahoma to complement renewable energy sources like wind.
Additionally, the bill also seeks to promote wind-energy development in Oklahoma by increasing the capability of transmitting the electricity generated by wind across the state through improved transmission capability. The bill calls for the state to work with the Corporation Commission and the Southwest Power Pool to develop plans to expand transmission capacity in Oklahoma. Finally, the bill works to increase the number of compressed natural gas fueling stations in the state by setting a goal of having one public CNG fueling station located approximately every 100 miles along the entire interstate highway system in the state by the year 2015. The bill passed the House with a vote of 91-2 and proceeded to the Senate for final consideration.

Legislation that would improve emergency medical assistance for student athletes was passed by the Oklahoma House of Representatives. House Bill 1658 would place health care service providers volunteering their services at secondary school activities under the Good Samaritan Act. The legislation was filed in response to the death of Justin Barney, a freshman football player from Rush Springs who died from an injury at a game two years ago. The bill would allow chiropractors, podiatrists, dentists, allopathic and osteopathic physicians, physician assistants, optometrists, and nurses (advance practice, registered and practical) to be protected from frivolous lawsuits when they volunteer their services within their specific scope of practice. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that there are some 300,000 sports-related concussions each year in America – a number similar to the total number of concussions suffered by service members in Iraq and Afghanistan since the start of the war.
According to the Department of Health, there are not enough ambulances available to cover every football game in Oklahoma. If House Bill 1658 will encourage doctors to work with schools it will help increase the odds of survival when the unexpected occurs.
The bill passed unanimously and moved to the Senate for consideration.

Legislation to aid Oklahomans with disabilities passed the House unanimously this week. House Bill 2567 would require the state of Oklahoma to recognize any disability stickers issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs and federal military bases or disability placards issued by another state as valid in Oklahoma. In addition, the measure provides for a $500 fine for individuals who illegally use a disabled parking space. Under the bill, 80 percent of the fines collected from violating the law would be allocated to the general fund of the issuing municipality and 20 percent would go to the Department of Public Safety for the purpose of establishing a system to better enforce disability parking requirements.

Lawmakers voted this week to ensure better ambulance coverage in rural Oklahoma. House Bill 1888 requires each county with a population of 500,000 people or less to present an emergency medical services plan to the Oklahoma Department of Health by April 1, 2011. The legislation also creates a petition process to allow registered voters to create an ambulance service district in their counties. The legislation also requires licensed ambulance services in the licensed area to respond to all emergency calls regardless of the patient’s ability to pay. House Bill 1888 passed by a vote of 91-2 and now heads to the Senate for consideration.

Legislation creating a pilot program that establishes reentry and diversion programs to allow non-violent offender parents to receive community-based services in lieu of incarceration unanimously passed the House this week. House Bill 2998 would encourage re-entry and diversion programs as opposed to jail time for non-violent offenders who are the primary caregivers to minor children. The change would allow them to receive rehabilitative services while maintaining contact with their children. Oklahoma incarcerates more women—who often serve as the lone caregiver in the home—than any other state in the nation. The incarceration rate for women is 131 per 100,000 residents, almost twice the national average of 69 per 100,000. Most women prison inmates, 68 percent, are in prison for non-violent offenses. The bill passed the House with a vote of 90-0 and will now return to the Senate for final consideration.

Drivers who make a left turn in the face of oncoming traffic may also face a traffic ticket, under a measure recently signed into law by Gov. Brad Henry.
The new law, which goes into effect on November 1, eliminates language that permitted a driver to turn left after signaling and pausing in an intersection, and which required oncoming drivers to yield to the turning driver. The change means drivers must wait until all oncoming traffic has passed before attempting a left turn. The old law dated to the very early days of automobiles and traffic regulations. Although originally proposed in a different bill that did not get a hearing in the state Senate, the language was added as an amendment to House Bill 2322, which also deals with laws governing motor vehicles.
The new law is named the Casey Lewis Act, in memory of a central Oklahoma man who died in 2007 after a car turned left in the path of his motorcycle. The driver of the car that killed Lewis was not cited because the driver stopped in the intersection and signaled before making the turn, in compliance with the law then in effect. The Casey Lewis Act was endorsed by the Department of Public Safety. House Bill 2322 passed with a 95-0 vote in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and a 44-0 vote in the state Senate.

Legislation that would challenge the federalized health care system has been revived by the Oklahoma House of Representatives, where legislators overrode Gov. Brad Henry’s veto. House Joint Resolution 1054 amends Oklahoma law to allow citizens to opt-out of the new federal system and retain their current coverage. Another provision will allow the Legislature to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the health care mandates. The override attempt passed with a bipartisan margin of 72-24.

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

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

"A good beginning makes a good end." - Louis L'amour