Icy roads throughout the state shut down work at the Capitol the last few legislative days of last week. That means our committee work gets pushed into one long deadline week.

My House Bill 2972 that would allow physicians assistants and nurse practitioners to sign off on medical exemptions for jury duty is scheduled to be heard in committee this week. Right now only doctors can exempt prospective jurors. This presents a problem for people in rural areas who often don’t have a family physician. Allowing them to get an exemption from their nearest medical provider will be big help. This was a request from the LeFlore County court clerk’s office and area judges who see this problem on a regular basis. The bill was amended by another lawmaker to add college students to the list of individuals that can make a request to be exempt from jury duty. The court clerk says this would be OK as their schedules are often hard to juggle.

My House Bill 2991 was set to be heard in the Common Education Committee. That meeting was rescheduled for this week. This bill specifies that students involved in a 4H project or activity cannot be counted absent from school, and their absence cannot negatively affect their grades. They would be allowed to make up any coursework missed while they were gone. I’ve gotten support from 4H, Farm Bureau, the Department of Agriculture and others for this bill, so I’m pretty hopeful.

My House Bill 2979, which would give Oklahomans the right to grow a garden no matter where they live, passed committee but got four votes against it. The arguments were about taking local control away from municipalities and worrying about people that plant corn too close to an intersection, impeding a driver’s view. I talked to the Department of Transportation, and they said they’re not worried about this at all. All it would take is a little common sense and neighbor talking to neighbor if there was any kind of problem. The right to grow food for survival is an inalienable right. In fact, it’s the very the first thing God told man to do – tend the garden. In this day and age when we’ve got major supply chain issues, and when the government can force mandates that deny people the right to work, this might be the most important bill we pass. I’ve heard some talk that it might not get heard on the House floor, but I’ll do everything I can to make sure it does.

As always, if I can help you with anything, feel free to call my Capitol office at (405) 557-7413 or email me at rick.west@okhouse.gov.

  • Rick West serves District 3 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. His district includes part of LeFlore County.

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