The House met its third-reading deadline last week. All bills had to advance from the House and move to the Senate by March 23 if they were going to stay active this session.
Several of my bills passed just before the deadline.
House Bill 1006 would grant students who are 4-H members an excused absence if they are participating in an authorized activity recognized by the county 4-H facilitator. This would allow them to make up any missed work and would mean their grades could not be negatively affected.
House Bill 2686 would require people participating in an opioid addiction treatment program to submit to eight random and witnessed urine screens annually. This would cut down on the number of people who receive drugs such as methadone from being able to use someone else’s urine to secure their drugs. This bill is a way to help save lives. It honors the memory of a young woman in our House district who died after being administered methadone illegally by someone allowed to take the drug home from a local clinic.
Also passed last week was House Bill 2416, which would rename a number of state highways or bridges to memorialize various individuals. Included in this bill is language that would designate a bridge on U.S. Highway 59 one-half mile south of Panama in LeFlore County in our House district as the Specialist Robert Allan Pierce Memorial Bridge.
Spc. Pierce, 20, of Panama, died June 3, 2013, in Tsamkani, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when his unit was attacked by a suicide bomber. Pierce was a member of the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) out of Fort Campbell, KY. His survivors include his spouse, Christian M. Pierce of Huntington, Ark., and his parents, Randy R. Pierce of Panama, and Lonnetta R. Dart of Hartford, Ark.
There were several bills I had to vote against last week.
House Bill 2860 would grant pay raises to certain statewide elected officials including the governor, lt. governor, Corporation Commissioners, attorney general, state superintendent of public instruction, state treasurer, state auditor and inspector, state insurance commissioner and the commissioner of labor.
Another no vote from me was for House Bill 1027, which would allow sports betting in our state. Why would we want to build our economy on the weaknesses of our people and then turn around and designate the first profits made to helping those very people recover from addiction.
I also voted against House Bill 1028 that would have removed parents from being able to decide whether or not their children can be spanked in school. I believe parents should have the ultimate say.
I voted yes, however, on a bill by Rep. Justin “J.J.” Humphrey that would lower the penalty for cockfighting from a felony to a misdemeanor. Humphrey made the point that people never died from a chicken fight and yet as the law stands today they could be sentenced to 10 years in prison if convicted of participating in some way in cockfighting.
Remember to listen to me on KPRV Radio at 7:30 a.m. every Thursday for my legislative update.
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.
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Rick West serves District 3 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. His district includes part of LeFlore County.
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