Alva Review-Courier -

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 chamber. While a measure may have been approved by the Senate, the House may decide it’s not a priority for their members and simply not give the bill a committee hearing, and vice versa. There’s still several of my Senate bills awaiting a committee hearing in the House and a few of the House bills I’m authoring are waiting for a hearing in the Senate. I’ll know what legislation is still eligible to move forward in the process at the conclusion of this week.

I can tell you that HB 3359, which I’m authoring along with the Speaker of the House Charles McCall, was approved by the Senate Business, Commerce and Tourism Committee and is now waiting to be scheduled for a full hearing on the Senate floor. This measure modifies the Funeral Services Licensing Act by reducing some of the qualifications and examination requirements to become a licensed funeral director and embalmer.

As you can imagine, interest in this industry is minimal. Currently, there’s about 60 hours of college coursework not associated with mortuary school that’s required for a future licensee, which decreases the pool of those eligible to work in the industry. This measure would reduce the education credits needed from roughly a bachelor’s degree to an associate degree, reducing unnecessary college hours to be qualified to work as a funeral director or embalmer and reducing the amount of debt needed to get a degree. It would also remove the hindrance of reciprocating a license for those moving to our state from another if the previous state of employment did not have the additional college requirement.

We want to make it easier for folks to make a good living in our state. Eliminating unnecessary college hours and courses to become a funeral director or embalmer is a way to cut governmental red tape and ensure a career in this business is obtainable.

One of my favorite events at the Capitol each year was last week – Oklahoma State University Day. America’s brightest orange was on full display around the rotunda as current students, alumni, legislators and legislative staff who attended the university joined in on the celebration. We even got to welcome Pistol Pete and OSU’s President, Dr. Kayse Shrum, for a special welcome on the Senate floor. I’m a proud Cowboy through and through, and it’s always enjoyable to see so much school spirit for the university I love.

On Wednesday, it was an honor to recognize the Timberlake Tigers on the floor to celebrate their win of the Class C State Football Championship. This is a fantastic group of young men who worked hard all year and made their community proud.

Finally, I welcomed Dr. Leslie Collins to the Senate where she served as our Nurse of the Day on Thursday. Leslie is the assistant chair of the Charles Morton Share Trust Division of Nursing and an associate professor at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. She’s been a nurse for 12 years and has a background in maternal-newborn nursing. Thank you for your service to the Senate and state, Leslie!

It’s an honor to serve as your state Senator. Please feel free to reach out if there is anything I can help you with. You can contact me at 405-521-5630 or via email at [email protected].