Education, book bans, red cedars addressed by legislators

The Alva Chamber Community Coffee Friday morning was held in the Cherokee Strip Museum annex just to the north of the museum building. Museum staff provided guests with a choice of breakfast casseroles, fresh fruit, orange juice and coffee. Plenty of seating was available around circular tables decorated with colorful sunflower bouquets.

Legislators for Woods County were the guest speakers for the event. Sen. Casey Murdock gave an update on several bills. He was happy to announce the bill enhancing Oklahoma's 911 services has been signed into law. Murdock said the state's analog system dating from 1976 made it difficult to track cellphone calls. In fact the bill was named for a 22-year-old man who died after a cardiac arrest. The Haiden Fleming Memorial Act will enable Oklahoma to move to Next Generation 911.

"We had big cellphone companies fighting us," said Murdock. The bill will adjust the fee for devices capable of calling 911 from 75 cents to $1.25 a month.

"It may be the best bill I've ever run," said Murdock who was the principal senate author. "This bill will save lives."

Education and Book Bans

Education was a big part of this legislative session. Murdock said the state had a larger budget of $10.7 billion compared to the $6.3 billion available in 2015 when he took office. A lot of that increase was due to Covid money, inflation, and oil and gas revenue. He said 53 percent of that budget goes into public education. It includes $5 million to provide teacher pay raises based on years of teaching.

Last year, Murdock voted against a bill providing vouchers for those attending private or charter schools because it benefited metro areas, not his rural constituents. During this session, he reluctantly voted for the education bill, which included tax incentives that he said were basically vouchers, because of the other benefits to public schools.

"We cut about as fair a deal as we can," he said. "All parties walked away mad." However, the schools are happy, he added.

Before yielding the floor to Rep. Carl Newton, Murdock fielded some questions from the audience. Lenny Reed voiced concern the education legislation could run into trouble from the courts after approving the tax incentives to be used for a religious school. "I don't want my tax money paying for private school," said Reed who is a retired public school teacher.

Sitting at the same table, Rosalie Rivera asked about Florida style book bans in schools. Murdock said proposed legislation is about books in elementary and junior high schools. Newton said, "These are books that show explicit sexual things."

One banned book cited by Rivera was "To Kill a Mockingbird." Newton said the state superintendent of schools banned it due to depiction of slavery. Murdock said he had no problem with the book.

The Senate bill in question, SB 397, would require schools and public libraries to inventory their current books both online and print. The books would then be categorized into ratings including Elementary (Pre-K through 5th grade), Junior High (6th-8th grade), Under 16, Juniors and Seniors. Some materials would also require a legal guardian's permission before being checked out.

The bill has been engrossed by the house, meaning it has been approved with changes, and returned to the senate for consideration.

Medical Marijuana

Rep. Newton opened his remarks with a few comments on education funding. He then focused on medical marijuana legislation. One change is that the OMMA (Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Agency) will be a separate agency allowing them to work more closely with the OSBI and other law enforcement. The OMMA will also set up a laboratory to do testing. They will also be able to do secret shopping, buying product from dispensaries for testing.

Another change is that dispensaries not paying state taxes will lose their license. Also, when the licensing moratorium is lifted, the number of growers will be capped at 1,000. This will make it easier to inspect grow sites.

This later drew a question from Henry Bickerstaff who pointed out limiting grower licenses still wouldn't control the amount of marijuana grown with a lot being shipped out of state. Newton agreed but said this legislation is a start.

Red Cedar Water Conservation

Newton talked about a new law establishing a pilot program to explore red cedar infestation throughout the state beginning with a concentration on the North Canadian Watershed.

House Bill 2239 creates the Terry Peach North Canadian Watershed Restoration Act, named after former Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Terry Peach who died last year. It was signed into law by the governor on June 9.

Trey Lam, executive director of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission, said the rapid growth of cedar brush intensifies drought, reduces water levels and fuels intense wildfires every year. Newton said the North Canadian water levels will be monitored to see if removing the cedars improves the flow. He said the South Canadian River parallels it and can be used for a comparison.

The North Canadian empties into Canton Lake which provides water to Oklahoma City. Newton said this cedar elimination program is a chance to show metro legislators how much it matters.

The $3.3 million cost-sharing pilot program will work with landowners, state agencies and other political subdivisions and cost-share expenses incurred. An emergency clause made the legislation effective immediately.

Northwestern Nursing Program

Spotting Northwestern Oklahoma State University President Dr. Bo Hannaford, Murdock said a visit from Hannaford resulted in $500,000 to the university's nursing program. He said Hannaford made them aware of the program. The money is part of the state's incentive to encourage more students to enter the nursing field.

The legislators briefly covered other legislative issues and answered a few more questions.

Alva Chamber Executive Director Jodie Bradford asked Museum Manager Elaine Graybill to speak. Graybill introduced the board members and invited everyone to visit the museum. She said they have fewer local visitors than out of towners.

Bradford said through an oversight, no location has been set for the July community coffee. She's hoping a local business will volunteer.