Week Three

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