Ed's Notes

            It was great to have Cherokee Chief Bill John Baker speak to the Native American Caucus and share with us the focus that his leadership will take and the announcement of the $1 billion economic impact in eastern Oklahoma.  He also expressed  pride in the role that the Cherokee Nation provides in health care needs as seen in the one million health care visits at their medical facilities.  I especially appreciated his commitment to promote home building for the tribal members within the fourteen counties of the Cherokee Nation.  This will have a major impact for numerous citizens in District 15 as well as assisting the state on its providing these services.  It was reassuring to hear him speak of the importance of a strong family unit for growth in our area and state. 

            I would like to continue with Governor Fallin’s State of the State message by analyzing her thoughts on cutting and then doing away with our state income tax.  A good place to start would be to quote Tulsa World writer Wayne Greene’s article when he stated the following about Oklahoma’s tax system.  “….a poor man can feel like a millionaire because they’re paying taxes at the same rate.”  We see this being proposed to phase out the state’s requirement of personal income tax. While this is being sold on the idea that this will promote new businesses in our state, the fact is that these new businesses will not come here until we have an efficient and secure transportation infrastructure, a skilled labor force relative to specific needs, and nearby markets.  These will require public investments made possible by the income tax. Another aspect that will be hit is our retired teachers funding.   The Oklahoma Retired Teachers Organization has received funding from the state income tax at a rate of approximately 4% which adds up to over $200 million a year.  This amount has shrunk in the last three years as the percentage of state income tax is minimized.  What I am writing now is just the tip of the issue and I will continue writing on this as the session moves along.  An example will be an analysis of  the $7 billion plus tax giveaways not tied to specific job creation.  

            The second focus of this Entry is on education. Let us first talk about the “Waiver” that Superintendent Barresi requested and received.  It allows the state to be exempt form the federal No Child Left Behind mandates.  The problem we find is that it places our public schools under the direct control of the State Superintendent who has let it be known that she sees our local control of education to be the problem with schools that have failed to make “adequate yearly progress” or AYP.  An example of this is her request in the Waiver to hire private vendors to take over school funds, management, curriculum, and/or instruction.  The local board would have no say.  These will be referred to as EMOs or Educational Management Organizations and there is no prevention language that excludes campaign contributors from serving in this capacity.  An interesting twist of logic is found in the waiver request in since the bottom third of students counts against the school three times while the advanced students count for the school only once. 

            There are a couple of education bills that I would like to give you a heads up on that were heard in committee this week.  First, I was proud of the bipartisan effort to defeat a bill that should have never been heard.  HB 3089 by Rep. Nelson, R. Oklahoma City, called for the extension of the school day by thirty (30) minutes or it should not be less than six and a half hours rather than six.   The odd part of this is that the author did not change the total number of hours required per year which is 1080.  Without changing this it was a totally redundant bill and a waste of tax payers money having it heard.  It was defeated by a vote of 11 to 4.   Another Education bill that causes me heartburn is HB 3112 which discontinues paying for any remediation courses for students receiving financial assistance through the Promise or OHLAP program.   A high school student has to qualify for this assistance by maintaining a certain grade point and pass specified college preparatory courses in high school.  They will be assigned to a 0 level or non-credit course based on their subject scores on the ACT.  The sad part of this is that our schools have been measured based on students success on PASS objective criteria that do not relate to the ACT and now we are punishing those who have complied with our schools requirements only to find that our colleges and universities are using a different measurement.  This bill will come to the floor and I will work to defeat it. 

If you would like to have my weekly Notes sent to by email each week, please contact me at the address below.  If you wish to contact me please utilize any of the following: PO Box 98, Porum, OK  74455, by email at ed.cannaday@okhouse.gov , home phone: 918 484 5701, cell: 918 448 5702 or  Legislative Assistant, Gene Fowler, at 1 800 522 8502 or 405 557 7375 and fax 405 962 7685 at the Capitol. Web Site http://www.edcannaday.com  Ed Cannaday

            We began this Session with Governor Fallen presenting her “State of the State” in a Joint House and Senate Session.  First I was pleased that she was committed to request supplemental funding for the school districts’ teachers’ health insurance premiums that had been diverted by State Superintendent Barresi’s actions last year which shorted them by two months  worth of Flex Benefit Allowance in the 2011/12 budget totaling $37.6 million.   The proposal that the Governor is making will correct this misuse  of state funds by our State Superintendent. 

            Secondly, I was shocked, as were most of the other legislators in the Chambers when Governor Fallin stated that she would request funds to go to the Attorney General’s office for that office to be involved in a Stream Adjudication suit directed against the Choctaw and Chickasaw  Nations.   The Governor asked legislators to approve a $5 million funding increase for the Attorney General’s office to fight the Tribes’ lawsuit in the event that federal court ordered mediation fails.  What is curious here is that the State, through the Oklahoma Water Resource Board, seemingly stepped outside the already ongoing mediation process when the OWRB delegated to its attorneys the discretion to determine whether to file a stream adjudication—a suit to determine water rights—in Southeastern Oklahoma.  This move had nothing to do with mediation and was more an attempt to pull a federal lawsuit into state court, all at the expense of Oklahomans.  Furthermore, the state then claimed this move, which is little more than a welfare plan for lawyers, was an attempt to protect Oklahomans from the Tribes.

Perhaps she felt comfortable making this move during the State of the State speech with the two Nations in question not be present.

            Perhaps a quote from a letter dated February 7, 2012 to Governor Fallin from the leaders of the two Nations mentioned would be helpful.  “A general stream adjudication is not required as a result of our court action.  Our filing does not disrupt existing uses of water made pursuant to valid state permits.  In order to reassure all Oklahomans of our intent, and to underscore our commitment to good faith negotiations, we filed an amended document……to clear up any misunderstanding that might still remain.  This should leave no doubt that the filing of a stream adjudication is not a necessity, but a choice of the state.” 

Our first Common Education Committee heard two bills and there was one that I would like to express my appreciation for since it is a start to correcting a bad bill requiring that each school site be given a letter grade that could potentially impact funding.  HB 2494, which passed out of Committee unanimously, allows the high school’s grade to be impacted by testing done at Career Tech Centers.  Specifically, it will include the WorkKey Assessments that their students take as an alternative to the Algebra I EOI.  In addition it allows scores from college equivalent credits and exams given at various sites other than the site being graded.  This “school grade” bill will take more modifications before it is a true measurement of a school site’s effectiveness at educating their students.  However this is a start. 

We had several bills in the Public Safety Committee.  One that I co-authored and was passed on a 10 to 6 vote is HB 2583 which would make it a statutory mandate that all passengers in a motor vehicle operated in the state shall wear a properly adjusted and fastened safety seat belt system.  Another bill heard that is very controversial is HB 2572 which makes the owner of a mobile home park renting or leasing ten or more mobile  or manufactured homes shall make sure that the anchoring of the homes meets the standards of the manufacturer’s manual.   This bill created considerable controversy and was laid over until next week’s Committee meeting.  Feel free to contact me on this issue which seems to convert private property to real estate property.   

If you would like to have my weekly Notes sent to by email each week, please contact me at the address below.  If you wish to contact me please utilize any of the following: PO Box 98, Porum, OK  74455, by email at ed.cannaday@okhouse.gov , home phone: 918 484 5701, cell: 918 448 5702 or  Legislative Assistant, Gene Fowler, at 1 800 522 8502 or 405 557 7375 and fax 405 962 7685 at the Capitol. Web Site http://www.edcannaday.com  Ed Cannaday

As I stated in the forty-eighth journal, I am filing a bill to protect property owners from paying for legal action by the state through the Oklahoma Water Resource Board (OWRB). This bill, HB 2202, amends existing language in Title 82, Section 105.6. The purpose of amending language in this section of law is to protect property owners from being forced to become parties in a state-initiated lawsuit. As parties to such a suit, they would be proportionally liable for the financial legal costs. The threat of such liability is highlighted in the following situation.

After being refused an opportunity to participate in the sale of water storage in Sardis Lake to Oklahoma City, the Tribal Nations of the Chickasaw and Choctaw filed a federal lawsuit to protect their water interests in the Kiamichi Basin. As indicated by the federal judge assigned to this case, mediation was seen as a possible solution. However, the State of Oklahoma through the Oklahoma Water Resource Board authorized their attorneys to file a stream adjudication lawsuit based on existing Title 82 language, thereby bringing this issue from the federal level to the state where they would have greater statutory clout. This is seen in the language that authorizes the Board to file this suit “on behalf of the state for the determination of all rights to the use of such water…The cost of such a suit, including the costs on behalf of the state shall be charged against each of the parties thereto in proportion to the amount of water rights allotted.”  In other words, by filing such adjudication the Board would be reaching into the pockets of persons who allege water rights in the affected stream system. 

My proposed legislation, HB 2202, would amend current statutes to set conditions that would be required to be met before this incursion into property owners’ rights when the Board independently files suit under the existing language. These conditions are as follows:

(1) The Board must provide notice to all persons in every county where a stream may exist;

(2)  Explain to all such persons who receive notice the reasons for this suit in its view and in the interests of the persons claiming rights in the stream system;

(3)  Consider impacts to the natural resources of the area and groundwater flows;

(4)  Hold a public hearing and allow a reasonable period of public comment on any planned adjudication; and

(5)  Fully and adequately respond to all comments received.

If a majority of persons claiming a right to use water in a stream system under consideration for stream adjudication objects to this action by the Board, the Board shall be prohibited from initiating the suit. The Board’s authority shall be restricted to only one defined stream system at one time. 

In conclusion, it is my view and that of others, that if left without these amended changes, the existing statute will be used by the Oklahoma Water Resource Board to force the state’s property owners into a prolonged and expensive suit. The sad aspect of this issue is that it could have been resolved through mediation, as recommended by the federal judge overseeing the current suit between the state and the Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes.

            If you would like to have my weekly Notes sent to you by email each week, please contact me at the address below.  If you wish to contact me please utilize any of the following: PO Box 98, Porum, OK  74455, by email at ed.cannaday@okhouse.gov , home phone: 918 484 5701, cell: 918 448 5702 or Legislative Assistant, Peggy Johnston, at 1 800 522 8502 or 405 557 7375 and fax 405 962 7685 at the Capitol. Web Site http://www.edcannaday.com  Ed Cannaday

            As Paul Harvey used to say: “here is the rest of the story.”  In other words this entry will focus on the final four bills that I have filed for the next session.  The first bill is perhaps the most important bill that I have ever filed.  The first bill I would like to discuss relates to the potential threats of our being made parties to a law suit initiated by the state over water rights. According to a Jan. 16 article in the Ada News, the Oklahoma Water Resource Board (OWRB) authorized their attorneys to file suit under Title 82 of Oklahoma statutes to determine water rights in an area of Southeast Oklahoma; the OWRB plans to file such a suit on Feb. 1. If your state water board is successful in this particular lawsuit, which is directed in response to the tribal water rights of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, any property owner or entity in a stream system who holds water rights could be held responsible for the burden and expense of long-term and complex litigation. This is known as stream adjudication. Existing Oklahoma water law language regarding stream adjudication poses a significant threat to property owners throughout eastern Oklahoma. As a result of this poorly written section of the water code, I have filed a bill to amend stream adjudication law in Oklahoma.  In part, this new bill will require that “a majority of persons claiming a right to use water in a stream system” agree to a proposed suit by the OWRB, will require a "public hearing and allow a reasonable period of public comment on any planned adjudication" and would limit the scope of such an adjudication.

The remaining three bills are education related bills.  First of these is a bill that will change the high school graduation requirements and provide a two tiered diploma system.  First is the Standard Diploma which will be attained by a student who successfully completes the state and local district curriculum requirements for graduation.  This will remove the current state mandate that they score proficient on four (4) of seven End of Instruction exams.  If this is mandate is not changed it is estimated that this  requirement will prevent approximately 5,000 high school seniors from graduating this year.  The second tier of this bill will be an Honors Diploma which can be earned if a senior has successfully completed the college preparatory curriculum and scores proficient on four (4) of seven End of Instruction exams.  While there are those who want to completely do away with these exams as any condition for graduation, I hope this will be a compromise between those demanding them and those calling for their removal.  The key is that this issue is studied by the legislature.

            Another education bill will call for our high schools to give students credits to students who attend Career Tech schools and earn college credits for their courses successfully completed at these schools.  If this bill becomes law, this will allow these college credits earned by high schools students in connection with their course work at the Career Tech to count as elective course credits in their high school college preparatory curriculum.   Last year there were over 4,000 college credit hours earned by high school student at Career Tech Centers across this state.  If a student earns a college credit, surely we should count this on their college preparatory curriculum requirements for graduation. 

            The final education bill that I am filing concerns the new trend for students to attend and receive credits for online or virtual courses.  While there may be a justification for a limited role of this form of education.  I have found that a large portion of the state money that goes to fund these courses go to out of state vendors or providers.  As a result my bill will be that the online provider receiving funds for students enrolled in their courses or programs must have its principal place of business located in Oklahoma or has at least fifty percent (50%) of its employees or assets be located in Oklahoma.   Since this revenue is a loss to our public schools, we need to at least insure that it is kept in the state and subject to state taxes since there are overwhelmingly private businesses. 

            The final bill that I will file concerns  

If you would like to have my weekly Notes sent to by email each week, please contact me at the address below.  If you wish to contact me please utilize any of the following: PO Box 98, Porum, OK  74455, by email at ed.cannaday@okhouse.gov , home phone: 918 484 5701, cell: 918 448 5702 or  Legislative Assistant, Peggy Johnson, at 1 800 522 8502 or 405 557 7375 and fax 405 962 7685 at the Capitol. Web Site http://www.edcannaday.com  Ed Cannaday

            As we prepare for the second half of the 53^rd Legislative Session to begin, we are operating under a series of deadlines for bills to be submitted and then filed.  In this and the Forty Eighth Entry I will summarize the bills that I will propose in this session with a few editorial comments.  An absolute reminder is that just because I am filing these bills does not guarantee that they will be heard.  However, if they are not heard in committee we can attempt to place them on another bill as an amendment.   In the long-run a Representative has a responsibility to address certain issues that have come up during the interim period between sessions.

            The following bill was a request by a Checotah FFA student, Dalton Cantrell-Shelton, to have a bounty placed on Feral Swine due to their destruction of forage producing areas especially those adjacent to wildlife protected areas such as Corp of Engineers land.   If this is given consideration it would be subject to the approval of the County Commissioners and the bounty would be $10 based on evidence that would be furnished in the form of the lower jaw, including tusks if present and a sworn affidavit that the feral swine was killed in the county of application.  While this will not provide the single solution to the destructive activities of this species, it is one of several approaches to a major concern of many District 15 farmers and ranchers.

            Another bill that I am requesting is one that deals with the waiving of examination requirements for expired drivers license provided the person provides the Department of Public Safety with an expired driver license issued by the state or county for the same type or types of vehicles, provided the expired driver license is not more than tree years past the date of expiration.  There are two issues that resulted in my filing this bill.  One is the new requirements for state issued ID for voting which may impact some of our more senior citizens who do not drive on a regular basis and another is that as the budget has been cut there are limited areas that offer the driver examination which results in a long distance traveled for most of constituents in District 15.  This latter issue is a concern for constituents, especially for those who have moved here from other states.

            I have filed a Highway Naming Bill for the nine (9) miles of Highway 71 between State Highways 9 and 31.   If passed, this portion of highway will be signed as named after Joshua D. Sheppard-Young who was killed in Iraq in 2007 as a result of hostile action by enemy forces.   The timing of this may seem delayed, but with the official ending of US operations in Iraq, it is critical that we offer this memorial to one who gave his life fighting for his nation and state.

            Fourth and final bill for this Journal is the product of what I would refer to as “legislative lack of courage” that took place in last year’s budget.  Specifically, the House and Senate send the Department of Education a budget without specifying specific “line items.”  I am addressing an area that is identified as “flexible benefit allowance” which goes to qualified school district employees for health insurance costs.  This bill would require that this money be set aside based on a twelve (12) month basis.  Last year, without a specific line item, the State Department of Education (SDE) refused to supply two months of this allowance to our school districts.   My proposed bill will provide protection from this type of fiscal manipulation at the expense of our local districts by creating in the State Treasury for the State Board of Education and the State Board of Career and Technology Education dedicated to this specific function and will not be subject to the SDE removal of these dedicated funds.   The talk at the Capitol and Department of Education is that this will be funded for the full year.  My concern is the following:  what happens the next time we want to “pass the ball off” and let someone else make that decision.  This will prevent the legislature from dodging its responsibility to fund aspects of our government that had the commitment of previous legislative actions. 

If you would like to have my weekly Notes sent to by email each week, please contact me at the address below.  If you wish to contact me please utilize any of the following: PO Box 98, Porum, OK  74455, by email at ed.cannaday@okhouse.gov , home phone: 918 484 5701, cell: 918 448 5702 or  Legislative Assistant, Peggy Johnson, at 1 800 522 8502 or 405 557 7375 and fax 405 962 7685 at the Capitol. Web Site http://www.edcannaday.com  Ed Cannaday