Alva Review-Courier -

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...

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 s...

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 o...

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 W...

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...

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...

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 c...

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 o...

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...

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 p...

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 fu...

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 s...

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 r...

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 i...

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 legis...

We’ve wrapped up our last legislative deadline, and we’re nearing towards the end of this year’s session. Constitutionally, we must adjourn by 5 p.m. on the last Friday in May, but it’s possibl...

With less than a month left before the legislative session must be completed per our state’s constitution, we’ve officially wrapped up voting on measures from the opposite chamber and will now shift o...

Many of you may have received a piece of mail this past week misrepresenting my voting record here at the Capitol. These types of media campaigns are filled with half-truths and meant to inflame...

As the Easter holiday is now behind us, I hope each of you enjoyed special time with family and friends to celebrate the gift of everlasting life given to us by Jesus Christ. His sacrifice was great,...

We’re quickly approaching the April 14 deadline to approve House bills out of our Senate committees, which is a big hurdle in the legislative process for bills that originated in the opposite c...

One of my favorite things during session each year is seeing all of the groups and industries that set up booths for their advocacy groups at the Capitol. The last two legislative sessions have been...

We’re now entering into the second half of the legislative session. We’ve advanced Senate bills from our committees and floor to the House, and we’ll now begin studying and voting on the measu...

We had a busy few days last week before we adjourned for a shortened spring break. While we are approaching our deadline of March 24 to hear Senate bills in our chamber, we’ve had some lengthy agendas...

As we continue to hear legislation on the Senate floor ahead of our March 24 deadline to pass measures out of our chamber, we’ve approved a myriad of bills that will position our state for c...

We’re now shifting focus at the Capitol after a busy week finishing up in our Senate committees. We’ll be spending the majority of our time on the Senate floor up until the March 24 deadline to pass t...