Last week marked the deadline for filing bills. About 1,000 substantive bills were filed in the House and about the same number in the Senate. No further bills may be filed during this year’s session.I filed eleven different bills. I also co-authored several other bills with other legislators. I am planning to also be the House author of various Senate bills that will come over later in the session.
The first bill that I filed dealt with school land. It further defined school land since the definition has become ambiguous. This will help insure that all the money from the school land building fund will go only to counties with state owned school land. It will also require the Commission on School Land to reduce the lease payments on school land when landowners are required to stop or limit grazing. The second bill I filed dealt with landowners and wind generators. It gives them several rights in regards to wind energy. A companion bill to this seeks to establish a mechanism to organize and build auxiliary transmission lines for energy infrastructure. This will be especially helpful in Cimarron and Beaver County. It will also help in Texas County to establish a network of transmission lines from other areas like Hooker or Tyrone. The third bill I filed dealt with higher education. It extends the Teacher Educational Grant given to those who teach math and science in high school. It allows this grant to also be given to those that teach in junior colleges or regional universities. The fourth bill that I filed finalizes the federal Adam Walsh Act into Oklahoma statutes. This completes the necessary steps for our state to come into compliance with Federal standards. This enables our state to continue to receive federal funds for law enforcement. It also continues to make our state a safer place for Oklahomans. The fifth bill I filed allows both Medi-Share and Life-lock to operate in Oklahoma. Both of these companies have been prevented from operating in our state by the State Insurance Commissioner. The reasons for this decision have been extremely weak. Both of these companies should be able to operate in Oklahoma. I will detail the rest of the bills I filed next week. I am working on several requests from constituents about the higher than expected rate increase from West Texas Gas. I will be meeting with the Corporation Commissioners about this matter. As always you can contact me at the Capitol or at my home in Goodwell.
