Some important work this year

Opinion

May 30, 2009

By Rep. Brian Renegar, DVM The McAlester News-Capital Sat May 30, 2009, 12:43 PM CDT

With the legislative session concluded, I want to take this opportunity to summarize important bills, as well as provide some reflections on my work as your representative.

To begin, I want to share some of the highlights and lowlights of the session. Emotionally, I would have to say that Choctaw Chief Greg Pyle’s address to the House commemorating the “Choctaw Code Talkers” was an event that I would simply say you had to be there to appreciate it. Also, the selection of Wilburton Main Street’s “Green Frog Festival” as the recipient of several awards was an awesome feat, not only for Wilburton but for all of Latimer County.

We finally passed a good water bill (House Bill 1483), which gives the State of Oklahoma further protection from out-of-state water sales. What is ironic about this legislation is that probably 75 percent of the legislators who voted for it do not realize the far-reaching effects this bill achieves for our future.

The last night of the session, we passed Senate Bill 179, which is a bond issue that pays the Corps of Engineers for Lake Sardis. This was a request bill by the governor. He and the secretary of the environment for the state have been in negotiations with the Corps of Engineers and were close to an agreement.

Earlier in the week, we passed Senate Bill 275, and the governor signed it into law. This bill allows for zone-only voting for the Kiamichi Technology school district. I inserted language into SB 275 during the last week of deadline week. This will save Kiamichi Tech about $60,000 per year.

The worst bill of the session was passed on the last night. Senate Bill 1704, which changed to three different bills in the last two days of the session, creates a new “agency of technology.” The director of this agency is going to be over all computer and software systems of all agencies except higher education. The director will be paid $40,000 more than we pay the governor and will control software and hardware that will cost the state $320 million per year. This program was attempted in Texas two years ago, and now they are trying to scrap it. There is too much room for corruption, as well as cross information being shared by different agencies.

This year we had an $856 million deficit, but it was supplemented with the federal stimulus money. Next year we have been told we will be working with a deficit of at least $1.8 billion unless Oklahoma experiences a drastic turnaround in our economy.

Last week, I failed to report that Lyndsey Grosefield of Clayton was my page. She is an awesome young lady and was selected Page of the Week by the other 27 pages in attendance.

Thank you for the privilege of representing you at the Capitol. It feels good to be back home in the District and back to work at the vet clinic. I want to remind you that you can still contact me with your needs and concerns at my Capitol office by calling 800-522-5381 or by e-mail at brian.renegar@okhouse.gov.

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