I’d like to kick off this weeks visit with the particulars on a bill that I am authoring that will hopefully give schools some predictability as far as school land money goes. I have been working with officials from the school land commission and we hope it will at least smooth up a little of the budgeting process.
Two years ago Oklahoma public schools and colleges asked the Commissioners of the Land Office to find a way to help stabilize the amount of money that is sent to our schools from the money it receives on oil and gas exploration and land leases. When the oil and gas industry is booming in Oklahoma, revenue to the Land Commission goes up and in turn more money goes to the schools, when the drilling slows the money slows. Working with the Land Office, I have created legislation that allows the Land Office to create a five year rolling average on the money. This will allow the schools to begin to budget money coming from the Land Office and to have a bit of predictability. The legislation will also allow the Land Commission to be able to spend some of the money coming in to the agency for conservation on the land it controls in our area. The projects will include everything from water wells to red cedar and juniper eradication. We all know how important it is to insure that the land will be there for the schools and how important the funding is currently for the schools. To give you some examples, since July Grandfield as received over 20 thousand dollars, Frederick over 103 thousand dollars and Tipton over 45 thousand dollars and those numbers will all increase before the end of June. Right now we don’t know where the conservation project will begin but I will keep you posted as work on those moves forward.
Other highlights of the session include
House Passes Bill to Protect Living Center Residents’ Right to Choose Pharmacy
Legislation approved by the Oklahoma House of Representatives would allow assisted living center residents to continue doing business with local pharmacies without fear of penalty.
House Bill 2566 would ban assisted living centers from penalizing residents for using their choice of providers for medical services and supplies.
The legislation was approved by a vote of 88-6 and now proceeds to the Senate.
Committee Approves Safeguards for Places of Worship
A state House committee has approved legislation giving officials clear legal authority to use deadly force against dangerous individuals at a place of worship.
House Bill 2988 declares that “the citizens of the State of Oklahoma have a right to expect absolute safety within their own homes, places of business, or places of worship” and that officials at any place of worship are allowed to use defensive force in cases where there is “a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great bodily harm.”
There have been several cases where acts of violence have occurred or threats have been issued at places of worship in Oklahoma.
In 2009, Pastor Carol Daniels was killed at the Christ Holy Sanctified Church in Anadarko
In Edmond, the Fairview Baptist Church received a bomb threat after its pastor spoke out against a city policy regarding homosexuals.
House Bill 2988 has passed out of the House Judiciary Committee and now goes to the floor of the Oklahoma House of Representatives.
If you would like to contact me at the Capitol, feel free to call me at 1-800-522-8502 or email me at donarmes@okhouse.gov.
And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:
An idea not coupled with action will never get any bigger than the brain cell it occupied—Arnold H. Glasgow
Friday, February 24, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
It’s Broke, Should we fix it?
One of the jobs ahead of us this session will be trying to decide how to address the ever worsening problem of our crumbling State Capitol. Oklahoma has many icons that color our history. Many of those icons are people, like Will Rogers. They live on in our history books and in tales told to children and adults alike. The list of famous Oklahomans is long and colorful. On the other hand, some of the icons that help tell our story are buildings. These buildings are still in use every day and no less important to our state and our history. One such building is the State Capitol.
Ground was broken for our Capitol on July 20th 1914 on land donated by William F. Harn and John T. Culbertson at what is now the intersection of 23rd and Lincoln. The building was completed on June 30th 1917. Of course it was not really complete and would not be until the year 2002 when the crown jewel was dedicated, which of course, was the dome. House Bill 2827 was passed in 1998 The Oklahoma Centennial Act which formed the Oklahoma Centennial Commemoration Commission. This commission was charged with the dome project. I will never forget my first official function as a newly elected member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives; it was November 16th 2002 on a very cold night. The Dome Dedication was an unbelievable celebration marking the completion of the final chapter in our Capitols construction. I have to tell you it’s hard not to be in awe of this magnificent lady every time I pull into the parking lot. The dome is adorned on the very top with a 22’ foot tall bronze statue created by then Senator Enoch Kelly Haney. The Guardian stands ever vigilant and is breath taking sight to view from I-235 as you head north in the sunrise. It is a grand building and absolutely one of the most important symbols of Oklahoma. It is chocked full of art work and if those walls could talk? She is ours, as Oklahomans and she is having issues. If you visit the Capitol and park south you will see yellow barricades that prevent you from entering through what was once the Grand entry way. The problem I’m told is that some of the concrete is crumbling and is not safe. It is a shame to see her suffer, but what to do?
The issue at hand is this. “Is it important enough to make repairs’? “What will it cost”? And of course the really hard question, “How will we pay for it”? Many folks say we should use bonds. It amounts to making a loan to do the needed repairs. There are some in our legislature who think borrowing is not a good idea. Some think it is no big deal. I have to think it’s a lot like your house. If the roof is bad, at what point do you start to do irreparable harm to the main structure if you don’t do the work? I’m sure not an architect or an engineer. I’m probably not the one to ask that question, but I do know that we better get it on our minds because it seems to not be getting any better. I have tried to listen to some folks who seem to be good business men. One is Rep. Guy Liebmann. Guy is a very savvy gentleman when it comes to money. He was in the Ice business in OKC for many years and almost every ice machine you saw out side stores in the metro area bore his name. Guy says that you must do maintenance when it is needed and right now, money is cheap. Meaning that, interest rates are at all time lows. In his opinion, there is now time like the present to get this repair work started. I tend to think he is right. I don’t know all the numbers, but I do think that we need to start addressing the problem soon. I don’t know if we are past the point of no return. I’m facing the same kind of things at my house. And the ever present question of “If we don’t fix it now, how much will it cost later”? I sure don’t profess to know all the answers, but it is our question, all of ours. After all, it is not just my Capitol; it belongs to all of us. As always, I’m interested in what you think. In the meantime, watch out for falling concrete.
If you would like to contact me at the Capitol, feel free to call 1-800-522-8502 or email me at donarmes@okhouse.gov
And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:
Never act until you have clearly answered the question, “What happens if I do nothing”? Robert Brault.
Ground was broken for our Capitol on July 20th 1914 on land donated by William F. Harn and John T. Culbertson at what is now the intersection of 23rd and Lincoln. The building was completed on June 30th 1917. Of course it was not really complete and would not be until the year 2002 when the crown jewel was dedicated, which of course, was the dome. House Bill 2827 was passed in 1998 The Oklahoma Centennial Act which formed the Oklahoma Centennial Commemoration Commission. This commission was charged with the dome project. I will never forget my first official function as a newly elected member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives; it was November 16th 2002 on a very cold night. The Dome Dedication was an unbelievable celebration marking the completion of the final chapter in our Capitols construction. I have to tell you it’s hard not to be in awe of this magnificent lady every time I pull into the parking lot. The dome is adorned on the very top with a 22’ foot tall bronze statue created by then Senator Enoch Kelly Haney. The Guardian stands ever vigilant and is breath taking sight to view from I-235 as you head north in the sunrise. It is a grand building and absolutely one of the most important symbols of Oklahoma. It is chocked full of art work and if those walls could talk? She is ours, as Oklahomans and she is having issues. If you visit the Capitol and park south you will see yellow barricades that prevent you from entering through what was once the Grand entry way. The problem I’m told is that some of the concrete is crumbling and is not safe. It is a shame to see her suffer, but what to do?
The issue at hand is this. “Is it important enough to make repairs’? “What will it cost”? And of course the really hard question, “How will we pay for it”? Many folks say we should use bonds. It amounts to making a loan to do the needed repairs. There are some in our legislature who think borrowing is not a good idea. Some think it is no big deal. I have to think it’s a lot like your house. If the roof is bad, at what point do you start to do irreparable harm to the main structure if you don’t do the work? I’m sure not an architect or an engineer. I’m probably not the one to ask that question, but I do know that we better get it on our minds because it seems to not be getting any better. I have tried to listen to some folks who seem to be good business men. One is Rep. Guy Liebmann. Guy is a very savvy gentleman when it comes to money. He was in the Ice business in OKC for many years and almost every ice machine you saw out side stores in the metro area bore his name. Guy says that you must do maintenance when it is needed and right now, money is cheap. Meaning that, interest rates are at all time lows. In his opinion, there is now time like the present to get this repair work started. I tend to think he is right. I don’t know all the numbers, but I do think that we need to start addressing the problem soon. I don’t know if we are past the point of no return. I’m facing the same kind of things at my house. And the ever present question of “If we don’t fix it now, how much will it cost later”? I sure don’t profess to know all the answers, but it is our question, all of ours. After all, it is not just my Capitol; it belongs to all of us. As always, I’m interested in what you think. In the meantime, watch out for falling concrete.
If you would like to contact me at the Capitol, feel free to call 1-800-522-8502 or email me at donarmes@okhouse.gov
And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:
Never act until you have clearly answered the question, “What happens if I do nothing”? Robert Brault.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Bolt Your Doors & Lock Your Windows
For the past several years people have asked “are you all in session.” My standard tongue and cheek reply has always been “no, you’re safe.” We can’t hurt you if we’re not running in a pack. Well, all that is fixin’ to change because Monday February 6th will mark the opening gavel of the second session o the 53rd legislature. Of course I joke pretty regularly about the danger of us being in that building in a group and it’s about half true. It seems like a lot of what we do is try to block things that can cause harm or be ever mindful of a great idea that can turn south at a moment’s notice. There’s always someone who has a notion to save the world or to make streets safer or right some wrong and I guess that even with all its faults it’s still probably the best system in the world.
I truly believe that most who take on this job do so with mostly good intentions and really have no intent to harm anyone or cost anybody any excess money. I also know that one of my favorite analogies is of a common household dog, that might be just like the pet you have at your house, under normal circumstances they wouldn’t bite a hot biscuit but if you put that dog in a pack and kick em’ out in the country they’ll take down a cow. While I don’t consider myself an expert on politics, I do understand group dynamics and I know we have to guard against that pack mentality. Quite frankly, I think we are much more dangerous in a group than any of us ever would be individually. Sometimes I wanna’ stand on top of my desk and scream at the top of my lungs “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” There are a whole lot of things in our State that work just fine and if we could figure out exactly what those things are and learn how to leave them alone we’d be miles ahead of the game. It’s kinda’ like Larry the cable guy walking up to a space shuttle and saying to the crew of rocket scientists “hey, I can work on these” and when they look at him astonished, then of course his next line is “I can’t fix em’ but I can work on em’.” It seems that we always have to work on something. Sometimes I wish we could just leave it alone but then again it’s hard for a young politician to go back to his district and when asked “what did you accomplish?” he can’t very well say “I just stood guard.” It’s not the answer his constituents wish to hear. We have to work on something or what good are we? So, I guess it’s just the nature of the beast. We’ve gotta’ work on stuff even if it’s not broken. We’ll try not to tear anything up.
On a much more positive note, we’ve had several applications for the Southwest Oklahoma Honor Flight that we talked about last week in the column. I can’t stress enough how important it is to seek out our Southwest Oklahoma WWII vets and make sure that they get this opportunity to view the memorial in DC. They may be a little ol’ neighbor of yours that may not be able to access a computer or a widower that lives down the road from ya’ that served his country and deserves this honor, you never know. I know that sometimes we tend not to want to bother people but I’m asking you to get outside your comfort zone and if you know of one of these fellas’, let us know. Time is of the essence. We need to move quickly to get these men and women applied. Again, the website is www.oklahomahonorflights.org and the phone number is 405-259-9000. One important point is, and I can’t stress this enough, when you look at the website you are gonna’ see a large waiting list. Remember, Southwest Oklahoma WWII vets will be moved to the front because of the angel donor and if this flight is not filled with Southwest Oklahoma veterans they will go to the back of the waiting list and I hate to waste such a great opportunity. Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the special send off ceremonies at the fair grounds in Lawton the evening of May 3rd. Please reach out and help us find these vets so we can say thanks.
If you would like to contact me at the Capitol, feel free to call 1-800-522-8502 or email me at donarmes@okhouse.gov
And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:
''Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke.''
—Will Rogers
I truly believe that most who take on this job do so with mostly good intentions and really have no intent to harm anyone or cost anybody any excess money. I also know that one of my favorite analogies is of a common household dog, that might be just like the pet you have at your house, under normal circumstances they wouldn’t bite a hot biscuit but if you put that dog in a pack and kick em’ out in the country they’ll take down a cow. While I don’t consider myself an expert on politics, I do understand group dynamics and I know we have to guard against that pack mentality. Quite frankly, I think we are much more dangerous in a group than any of us ever would be individually. Sometimes I wanna’ stand on top of my desk and scream at the top of my lungs “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” There are a whole lot of things in our State that work just fine and if we could figure out exactly what those things are and learn how to leave them alone we’d be miles ahead of the game. It’s kinda’ like Larry the cable guy walking up to a space shuttle and saying to the crew of rocket scientists “hey, I can work on these” and when they look at him astonished, then of course his next line is “I can’t fix em’ but I can work on em’.” It seems that we always have to work on something. Sometimes I wish we could just leave it alone but then again it’s hard for a young politician to go back to his district and when asked “what did you accomplish?” he can’t very well say “I just stood guard.” It’s not the answer his constituents wish to hear. We have to work on something or what good are we? So, I guess it’s just the nature of the beast. We’ve gotta’ work on stuff even if it’s not broken. We’ll try not to tear anything up.
On a much more positive note, we’ve had several applications for the Southwest Oklahoma Honor Flight that we talked about last week in the column. I can’t stress enough how important it is to seek out our Southwest Oklahoma WWII vets and make sure that they get this opportunity to view the memorial in DC. They may be a little ol’ neighbor of yours that may not be able to access a computer or a widower that lives down the road from ya’ that served his country and deserves this honor, you never know. I know that sometimes we tend not to want to bother people but I’m asking you to get outside your comfort zone and if you know of one of these fellas’, let us know. Time is of the essence. We need to move quickly to get these men and women applied. Again, the website is www.oklahomahonorflights.org and the phone number is 405-259-9000. One important point is, and I can’t stress this enough, when you look at the website you are gonna’ see a large waiting list. Remember, Southwest Oklahoma WWII vets will be moved to the front because of the angel donor and if this flight is not filled with Southwest Oklahoma veterans they will go to the back of the waiting list and I hate to waste such a great opportunity. Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the special send off ceremonies at the fair grounds in Lawton the evening of May 3rd. Please reach out and help us find these vets so we can say thanks.
If you would like to contact me at the Capitol, feel free to call 1-800-522-8502 or email me at donarmes@okhouse.gov
And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:
''Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke.''
—Will Rogers
Thursday, February 2, 2012
WWII Vets Front & Center Please
I really feel a little hesitant to bark orders at our greatest generation but I honestly don’t have time to lolly-gag. We have a fabulous window of opportunity to honor our WWII Veterans and like many windows I don’t want any of you, who are able, to miss it.
There is a program called Honor Flights which provides an all expense paid trip to take WWII veterans to see the memorial that was built in their honor. Just the fact that this program exists is tremendous and there have been numerous veterans that have made the trip to Washington DC whether they could afford it or not and our window of opportunity for our veterans in Southwest Oklahoma was made possible by a gentleman from Jackson County who stepped up and paid for an entire flight. His only stipulation was that he wanted WWII veterans from Southwest Oklahoma to have first shot at this particular opportunity. Prior to this, the flights have always gone out from Oklahoma City or Tulsa. This special flight will leave from Lawton on May 4, 2012. We want to fill that plane. We’ve had several inquiries as we have posted on facebook, made calls, met with civic clubs etc. and the first step is to go to the website which is www.oklahomahonorflights.org or call this phone number, 405-259-9000. Be sure to indicate when you call or access the website that you, or your loved one, are a Southwest Oklahoma veteran and you are applying for the special Lawton flight. It’s important to remember that the veteran will make this flight at no charge and each veteran will be accompanied by a guardian. We also need guardians. The guardians will pay their own way. The fee for being a guardian is $500. The charge for the guardians helps defray the cost to the veterans. There will also be medical personal on the flight. There will be wheelchairs available even for those who can walk so that they can expedite their movement once they get to DC. This trip will not be an overnight trip. This trip leaves around 5 a.m. and the veterans will be back home late the same night. It’s a strenuous day but it allows the cost to be kept low so that more of our heroes can make the trip to see their memorial. We not only need veterans to sign up as well as guardians willing to make the trip but we also need HS bands, student groups, letter writers, and just plain warm bodies to make the send off ceremony one that we can be proud of.
The send off will occur the evening of May 3rd at the Great Plains Coliseum where we will honor this greatest generation of heroes and pay respect as they prepare to make what for many of them will be the trip of a lifetime. We know that many of you will be hesitant to send dad or granddad on this type of journey. We want to assure you that they will be very well attended as well as cared for. I also want to stress again that we have an awesome window of opportunity to honor these veterans from our corner of the state who may not be able to make a trip to Oklahoma City or Tulsa. We feel that all of our WWII vets deserve this honor regardless of their financial where with all. I know we have a large number of heroes out there and we need your help in identifying those folks. There may be some who need help with various parts of the application and so on and I know that all of us, especially in our corner of the state, with its rich military history will want to help make this trip a reality for these people who greatly deserve it. So, once again the website is www.oklahomahonorflights.org and the phone number is 405-259-9000. If you need further information feel free to contact my office and we will help with the flow of information so we can make sure as many of our friends and neighbors can experience this great trip.
When you view the website you will see a waiting list of 450 veterans. It is very important to note that Southwest Oklahoma veterans will have priority on the Lawton flight due to the generosity of our donor. At the time of this writing there were about 50 Southwest Oklahoma vets who have signed up. We have room for approximately 50 more. Let’s fill this flight!
To contact me at the Capitol, you can call 1-800-522-8502 or email me at donarmes@okhouse.gov
And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:
We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude. ~Cynthia Ozick
There is a program called Honor Flights which provides an all expense paid trip to take WWII veterans to see the memorial that was built in their honor. Just the fact that this program exists is tremendous and there have been numerous veterans that have made the trip to Washington DC whether they could afford it or not and our window of opportunity for our veterans in Southwest Oklahoma was made possible by a gentleman from Jackson County who stepped up and paid for an entire flight. His only stipulation was that he wanted WWII veterans from Southwest Oklahoma to have first shot at this particular opportunity. Prior to this, the flights have always gone out from Oklahoma City or Tulsa. This special flight will leave from Lawton on May 4, 2012. We want to fill that plane. We’ve had several inquiries as we have posted on facebook, made calls, met with civic clubs etc. and the first step is to go to the website which is www.oklahomahonorflights.org or call this phone number, 405-259-9000. Be sure to indicate when you call or access the website that you, or your loved one, are a Southwest Oklahoma veteran and you are applying for the special Lawton flight. It’s important to remember that the veteran will make this flight at no charge and each veteran will be accompanied by a guardian. We also need guardians. The guardians will pay their own way. The fee for being a guardian is $500. The charge for the guardians helps defray the cost to the veterans. There will also be medical personal on the flight. There will be wheelchairs available even for those who can walk so that they can expedite their movement once they get to DC. This trip will not be an overnight trip. This trip leaves around 5 a.m. and the veterans will be back home late the same night. It’s a strenuous day but it allows the cost to be kept low so that more of our heroes can make the trip to see their memorial. We not only need veterans to sign up as well as guardians willing to make the trip but we also need HS bands, student groups, letter writers, and just plain warm bodies to make the send off ceremony one that we can be proud of.
The send off will occur the evening of May 3rd at the Great Plains Coliseum where we will honor this greatest generation of heroes and pay respect as they prepare to make what for many of them will be the trip of a lifetime. We know that many of you will be hesitant to send dad or granddad on this type of journey. We want to assure you that they will be very well attended as well as cared for. I also want to stress again that we have an awesome window of opportunity to honor these veterans from our corner of the state who may not be able to make a trip to Oklahoma City or Tulsa. We feel that all of our WWII vets deserve this honor regardless of their financial where with all. I know we have a large number of heroes out there and we need your help in identifying those folks. There may be some who need help with various parts of the application and so on and I know that all of us, especially in our corner of the state, with its rich military history will want to help make this trip a reality for these people who greatly deserve it. So, once again the website is www.oklahomahonorflights.org and the phone number is 405-259-9000. If you need further information feel free to contact my office and we will help with the flow of information so we can make sure as many of our friends and neighbors can experience this great trip.
When you view the website you will see a waiting list of 450 veterans. It is very important to note that Southwest Oklahoma veterans will have priority on the Lawton flight due to the generosity of our donor. At the time of this writing there were about 50 Southwest Oklahoma vets who have signed up. We have room for approximately 50 more. Let’s fill this flight!
To contact me at the Capitol, you can call 1-800-522-8502 or email me at donarmes@okhouse.gov
And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:
We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude. ~Cynthia Ozick
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