Sometimes the line between losing and winning becomes blurred. Last session, the Legislature passed legislation that would have changed the appointment process for trustees on the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) Board. This would have allowed the speaker of the House, the Senate president pro tem and the governor to have more involvement over board members. This legislation was in part due to a belief that TSET was sitting on a huge pile of money and not really being responsive to requests on how it should be dispersed, mostly that more should spent on health care facilities. Long story short, TSET filed a lawsuit against the legislation, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in their favor. So, I guess the Legislature lost. Wednesday, however, TSET announced they would be giving OU Medical $25 million and OSU Medical $30 million, which follows along some or the original requests. So, I guess the Legislature won. We lost the lawsuit, but at the end of the day we seemed to accomplish our original goal.
Thursday, I attended a check presentation for Red Oak Public Schools, which received a TSET grant in the amount of $15,000 to construct a new playground area. That same day, they also presented to LeFlore and Tuskahoma Public Schools. So, this money is being used for its intended purpose.
The Pitt 8 basketball tournament is going on this week in Pittsburg County. This is where the small schools compete against each other for the right to be the best in the county. This is an event our big city friends could never duplicate. As I’ve stated before, there are a lot of advantages of rural Oklahoma, and this is one of many.
All of Latimer County lost a friend last week with the passing of Joe Coy owner/operator of Roy’s Grocery in Wilburton. Joe took Roy’s from pencil and paper into the computer age while never losing sight of the fact that people still appreciate “customer service.” I don’t know that Joe ever turned down a request for support of any community fundraiser. “Sack Boy,” you will be missed.
As always, I’m thankful to the constituents of House District 17 for allowing me to serve. If I can help you in any way, I can be reached at (405) 557-7381 or by email at jim.grego@okhouse.gov.
Jim Grego serves District 17 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. His district includes Latimer County and part and Pittsburg County.
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