Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 87
It has been great spending time back in the district during the interim. My wife and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary recently and were treated to a wonderful reception by our daughters and their families. We greatly enjoyed getting to celebrate this milestone with our closest family and friends and can’t thank them enough for putting this together for us. Many across the area spent countless hours preparing their animals, produce, crafts and other projects to compete in the five county...
The last few weeks in the district have been full of events, and I've really enjoyed the opportunity to visit with many of you. I enjoyed celebrating Independence Day with family and friends, especially participating in the Blackwell Fourth of July parade with my granddaughter, Abby. I also attended the Carmen 5th of July celebration, which was a fantastic show and a great turn out for the community. Aside from the festivities, fireworks, vendors and entertainment, this celebration also offered...
On June 26, the Senate convened to consider overriding the governor’s veto of a bill related to extending tribal compacts for another year. This override failed by one vote. However, a concurrent resolution was passed on Monday to extend the special session until July 31, which will allow us to have more time to reconsider overriding the vetoes. The House already overrode one veto, which the Senate has not yet taken up. I anticipate we’ll return at some point in July to consider these mea...
I previously shared the provisions of Senate Bill 706, and I am happy to report that the governor has signed this legislation into law. After going through the legislative process, the final version of this bill looks a little different from the original, but it will still help Oklahoma children establish permanency in a more efficient manner. The new law requires a jury trial for parental rights termination proceedings to have a scheduling order issued within 30 days of the demand for a trial....
Now that the legislative session has concluded, I have been able to spend much more time in the district. On Memorial Day, I was honored to be a part of a ceremony at the Woodring Wall of Honor in Enid. The ceremony recognized veterans and fallen soldiers, including Darren Collins and Robert Swartz. I was proud to present their families with citations to recognize their loved ones’ service and their ultimate sacrifice. During the ceremony, one of my constituents, RD Lawrence, was recognized f...
This Friday marks the end of the 2023 legislative session. Now that an education agreement has been reached, work has picked back up on the remaining appropriations. Crafting the state budget takes time and is no easy task. Dozens of state agencies rely on their appropriations to fund needed state programs, so it also takes diligence and much consideration. A concurrent special session was called to allow more time to work on the budget if needed. I’ll keep you posted on the budget n...
I apologize for not having a column last week. I was under the weather, and not rainy weather. Although many areas of the state have received rain, I have been continually monitoring the drought conditions in our area. With little to no rain, our producers are being put in incredibly difficult situations. Wheat crops are currently being hit the hardest, with much of Oklahoma’s crop being in poor condition. If you are still in need of drought assistance, I recommend reaching out to the O...
We have officially passed another legislative deadline this session. Last Thursday, we worked well into the evening to finalize approval of bills that originated in the House. We approved 111 House bills last week, and 225 in total this session. The approved legislation included a public school funding plan that provides the largest teacher pay raise in state history. The raises will be based on years of service, with the most experienced and dedicated educators seeing the largest increase....
April 11 was Agriculture Day at the Capitol. I was able to meet with agriculture students from Northwestern Oklahoma State University and Northern Oklahoma College. These young adults are the future of our industry, and it was great to interact with them and hear about the outstanding agricultural degree programs that are offered in our district. Ag Day brought many producers to the Capitol who displayed their Made in Oklahoma products and shared information about their specific sector of...
I hope everyone had a blessed Easter and was able to enjoy time with family and friends. I enjoyed getting to spend some time back in the district this past week. On Friday, I spoke to AMBUCS in Enid, and we discussed the current legislative session and some of the bills that are being considered. I always enjoy meeting with this civic organization and thank them for all they do in our community. Rep. John Pfeiffer and I also met with constituents at the Blackwell Chamber of Commerce for their...
I spent some time as a science teacher and principal and many in my family have dedicated their careers to public education. Teachers, administrators, coaches and staff all dedicate so much of their time to our state’s youth and play a vital role in preparing students for college, their careers, and life in general. Last week, the Senate passed two education measures, which include the largest education appropriations increase in state history. As we continue to work through education reforms f...
Legislative showmanship at the Oklahoma Youth Expo is something my colleagues and I look forward to each year. This year, I showed Drummond FFA member Kendra Dillingham’s goat and I appreciate her sharing the details of her project with me. These students work extremely hard and are full of knowledge when it comes to livestock and the agriculture industry. It is always a pleasure to interact with our youth, and I am already looking forward to next year’s show. OYE breaks records each year wit...
I always enjoy welcoming constituents to the Capitol. Last week, Dr. Rebecca D. Lewis, DO, FACOFP, served as the Senate’s Doctor of Day. She currently practices full-scope family medicine with obstetrics at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Enid, where she also serves as the chief medical officer. I greatly appreciate her spending the day here in our chamber, and it was an honor to recognize her for her service to the Enid community. Last week, we celebrated Enid Day at the Capitol – it’s...
I had the opportunity to meet with some of our state’s brightest young people last week. FFA chapters from District 19 visited during FFA Day at the Capitol, which took place during National FFA Week. These students are not only the future leaders of the agriculture industry, but they are the future of our state. It was great to hear about their current projects, and I wish them luck as they compete in spring contests and show their livestock at the Oklahoma Youth Expo in the coming weeks. It h...
The beginning of session has been a whirlwind and it is hard to believe we are already beginning the third week. The Senate filed 1,116 bills this session, and our committees have heard over 300 of them. We have also passed more than 20 bills off the Senate floor, with dozens more set to be heard. I am happy to share that four of my bills were passed by their assigned committees. Senate Bill 876 would allow the Department of Wildlife to regulate out-of-state hunting guides and require resident...
As always, we have remained busy here at the state Capitol as we gear up for the 2023 legislative session. We recently received our committee assignments for the 59th Legislature, and I am looking forward to serving as vice chair of the Tourism and Wildlife Committee. You may notice that this is a different structure from past sessions, as Wildlife was previously paired with Agriculture, and Tourism was a part of the Business, Commerce and Tourism Committee. I’m grateful for the trust that h...
I served for six years in the Air Force Reserves, and I’m always happy to see efforts in support of our military and their families. Earlier this year, during the regular legislative session, we celebrated Oklahoma National Guard and 45th Infantry Day as well as Veteran’s Awareness Day at the Capitol to share our appreciation for those who served, and those currently serving. We unanimously passed a state income tax exemption on military pensions. We have a large military population in Okl...
As a farmer and rancher, I have firsthand knowledge of how devastating the current drought conditions have been for our state’s agriculture industry. This is one of the worst droughts we have seen over the last decade and the first time since March of 2013 that 100 percent of Oklahoma is in a drought. The U.S. Drought Monitor currently indicates the vast majority of the state is in a severe or extreme drought, with nearly 30 percent of our lands being classified in an exceptional drought, w...
Last week, we convened in special session to vote on American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) appropriations. We also took final action to approve $250 million for the Progressing Rural Economic Prosperity Fund (PREP) to invest in further workforce and economic development in rural areas. The pandemic committee also recommended adding an additional $52.25 million from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to go towards this statewide effort. This funding will be used to make structural, water and...
We finished our work to appropriate a majority of the state’s $1.8 billion in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) federal funds this past week. We met in special session to review the remaining proposed projects from the Joint Committee on Pandemic Relief Funding and approved nearly all of their recommendations. Some projects didn’t end up getting heard but we will address them later. Like previous projects, these focused on broadband upgrades, water infrastructure enhancements, workforce dev...
While there is always work that continues at the Capitol during the interim, this year is particularly busy. Oklahoma received nearly $1.9 billion in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) pandemic relief funds. The Joint Committee on Pandemic Relief Funding started working through hundreds of public proposals last year, totaling close to $18 billion, to decide how best to utilize these one-time funds to address critical needs in our state. The committee is split into four working groups to focus on sp...
Work at the Capitol never stops, but we’re picking up the pace. Over the summer, we were meeting with constituents, state agencies and others about issues of importance to them. The appropriation subcommittees also met with their agencies to learn how they spent their previous budgets and are planning to utilize their current ones. This is the first step in the budget process. The fall is when we start holding interim studies of those issues we didn’t have time to tackle during the leg...
As of 4:30 p.m. on May 27, the Second Session of the 58th Legislature was officially adjourned. We had a busy few months addressing some of our state’s most pressing issues, including strengthening regulations dealing with the medical marijuana industry, increasing the teacher-to-classroom pipeline and investing in our core services while still prioritizing savings. Creating a framework for the medical marijuana industry has been top of mind for the Legislature since this industry was a...
With about a week to spare, we successfully passed the Fiscal Year 2023 budget. As required by our state’s constitution, we approved a $9.7 billion balanced budget that utilized our state revenues in a variety of ways – bolstering our savings account, investing in a variety of public safety needs and providing inflation relief for all Oklahomans. Headlining the 2023 budget is the highest balance of our state’s savings account in Oklahoma history. With our deposits from this year’s revenue...
We’re onto the final countdown for this year’s legislative session. Only about two weeks remain before we are constitutionally required to adjourn sine die, which means we’ll end our legislative business with no set date to resume for the year. To finish off the remaining two weeks, we’ll begin voting on appropriations bills that create the 2023 Fiscal Year budget as well as approve amendments to Senate bills that were modified in the House of Representatives. Sometimes, we don’t agree wit...
