FOURTH DISTRICT DEMOCRAT

OPEN DOOR POICY by Rep. Joe Dorman

  

        I want to start off this week by extending my condolences to the Askins family in Duncan. Jarita, the mother of Carrie, Marty and Lt. Governor Jari Askins, passed away on Sunday following a long term illness. She was a wonderful woman and community leader and will be greatly missed, not only by her friends, but by also the entire community in which she worked to make a better place to live.

        This has been a very slow week at the Capitol due to the second six-week deadline beginning and bills not having time to go through the committee process. We have considered several resolutions and shell appropriations bills which do not have actual figures in them. This is common as we have not had the negotiations yet on where money will be spent. As I have mentioned before, the state is facing a shortfall this year of almost $900 million from the previous session. I look forward to the meetings where we will begin to discuss the budget as they have not been convened at this point.

       I had several visitors last week, including a local delegation from CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates). I also had three office aides who worked at the capitol with Pam and I. Erin Durant from Oklahoma City, along with Cortney Carroll and Chesney Overton of Fletcher. All three of these young ladies did a great job assisting in the office and hopefully having a good time learning about the legislative process.

 

I will have a busy weekend as I have several events around our area that I will be visiting. I am one of the guest speakers at the Lawton Chamber luncheon on Friday and I will be attending the Pioneer School awards assembly that evening, along with a charity event. On Saturday, I have a State 4-H Foundation board meeting in Stillwater (do not forget to get your anniversary Eskimo Joe's 4-H edition t-shirt if you have the chance) and then I have a fundraiser to attend at Brix in Bricktown or Dylan Bond, a child who has Leukemia. Information on this fundraiser can be collected at cmartin@okforjustice.org by email.

       I was honored to be a guest contributor to the Future Majority blog on the Internet this week also. The web address is www.futuremajority.com if you would like to read my column about empowering young voters to participate in the process. I feel it is important for the youth of our nation to pay attention to politics, from local level to national affairs and voice their concerns. I hope I have communicated that to my constituents and have done my part to get them involved in the process

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       It is an honor to represent your views at the State Capitol. If you wish to contact me and discuss one of these or another issue, I can be reached at my office in Oklahoma City toll-free at 1-800-522-8502, or directly at 1-405-557-7305. My e-mail address is joedorman@okhouse.gov at work. My mailing address is PO Box 559 , Rush Springs , OK 73082 and my website is www.joedorman.com on the Internet. Thank you for taking time to read this column and I look forward to seeing you soon.

MAJORITY RECEPTIVE TO MAKING UNION ORGANIZING EASIER

Majority Receptive to Law Making Union Organizing Easier.

PRINCETON, NJ -- A new Gallup Poll finds just over half of Americans, 53%, favoring a new law that would make it easier for labor unions to organize workers; 39% oppose it. This is a key issue at stake with the Employee Free Choice Act now being considered in Congress

OPEN DOOR POLICY

 March 17, 2009

     I hope everyone had a happy St. Patrick's Day!  We had a very light workload at the Capitol as it was the first week of reviewing Senate bills in the House and for House bills to be considered in the Senate.  It was Outdoor Sportsmen's Heritage Day on Monday also and we had various groups promoting hunting and fishing in Oklahoma.  I also had ladies from the Caddo County Farm Bureau drop by with homemade bread on Tuesday and we had the Washita Valley Leadership Class 15 visit.  
     I was recovering from the stomach flu which has been going around, so it was a weekend where I was trying to avoid giving the illness to others.  I had to miss some of our local schools play in the state basketball tournament, but congratulations on making it to the top tournament.  Congratulations also go to OU and OSU for making the NCAA tournament.  Even though I was still sick, one thing there was no chance I would miss was the wedding of Gene and Tara Chase, so congratulations and best wishes to them!
     For the first two days of this week, we considered resolutions on the floor and started committee work. Last week, was a different story with almost 200 bills being heard.  I had Torrie Abramo from Amber serve as a page.  She was able to participate in the mock legislature and saw quite a bit of debate on the floor.  I had my one bill pass unanimously over to the Senate.  This dealt with fire hydrant maintenance and we amended the bill to have them checked every three years instead of annually.
     Last week was a rough week for the legislators as we saw the deadline for passing bills out of the house of origin with those 200 bills I mentioned.  We worked from 9 a.m. each morning until after 11 p.m. some nights.  I had several opposition debates which made radio and TV in regards to programs that were pushed by the insurance industry.  One bill would have restricted the legislature's ability to pass mandated coverage on illnesses or conditions without a costly actuarial analysis that would have to be paid for by the person requesting the bill.  This breaks over 100 years of policy of legislators filing bills and sets a bad precedent for future legislation. 
     I will try to keep you updated on some of the Senate bills that will come forth over the next few weeks.  One that has received much press is SB 834, which eliminates many of the past legislative mandates and programs, such as class sizes and testing.  I agree with some of the intent of this bill, but I believe it goes way too far in reducing oversight. We've seen how well deregulation of banks has worked and I do not think we need to go down that path with our schools.
     It is an honor to represent your views at the State Capitol. If you wish to contact me and discuss one of these or another issue, I can be reached at my office in Oklahoma City toll-free at 1-800-522-8502, or directly at 1-405-557-7305. My e-mail address is joedorman@okhouse.gov at work.  My mailing address is PO Box 559 , Rush Springs , OK  73082 and my website is www.joedorman.com on the Internet.  Thank you for taking time to read this column and I look forward to seeing you soon.

Rep. Joe Dorman, Rep. Ryan McMullen, Sen. Ron Justice and Sen. Tom Ivester with the Washita Valley Leadership Class 15

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STEELE WHEELS

Democratic Strategist.

Steele Wheels More and more, the Republican Party seems to be chasing its own tail under the direction of its new national chairman, Michael Steele. And this week, the putative revolt against Steele transcended the grumbling about slow staff appointments and his clumsy dance with Rush Limbaugh, and became openly ideological, at a time when the GOP's ideological rigidity seems to have reached an all-time high. As Ben Smith explained yesterday at Politico: Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele’s series of gaffes turned into something more serious Thursday, as leaders of a pillar of the GOP—the anti-abortion movement—shifted into open revolt over comments in an interview with the men’s magazine GQ. Steele called abortion an “individual choice” and opposed a constitutional ban on abortion in the Feb. 24 interview, which appeared online Wednesday night. He echoed the language of the abortion rights movement and appeared to contradict his own heated assertions during his campaign for chairman that he is a committed soldier in the anti-abortion movement. While he issued a statement Thursday affirming his opposition to abortion and his support for a constitutional amendment banning it, the damage appeared to be done as leading social conservatives publicly attacked the embattled chairman.

Susan McCann to Lawtonians
show details Mar 18 (2 days ago) Reply

Renata Smith has created a Community Service Event on Organizing for America.  Renata assumed the responsibility for directing supporters of our President into Community Volunteer Opportunities.  Please consider joining for a couple of hours Saturday the 28th and bring your friends for this worthy cause!
Thanks,
Susan McCann
change OKLAHOMA! 
 
National Boys & Girls Club Week
Lawton Community Service Project
March 23 - 28th is National Boys and Girls Club Week. The Lawton Boys and Girls club has planned a lot of events for this week.

On Saturday March 28th Lawton Boys and Girls Club have planned a block party "Fun Day" and could really use a large group of volunteers for the block party to run games for the day.   Come out and support your community by bringing positive change in the lives of Lawton youth.
Hosted by: Renata Smith 910-728-0731
Lawton Boys & Girls Club
14 & F Ave.
Lawton, OK 73501
 
Sign UP Link:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/communityservice/gptbbk

EARMARKS PART OF THE JOB?

Tulsa World: Earmarks defended as part of job.

Earmarks defended as part of job By JIM MYERS World Washington Bureau Published: 3/15/2009 2:30 AM Last Modified: 3/15/2009 3:31 AM WASHINGTON — Headlines once again lump them together as pork. Or even worse: pet projects. Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, who does not seek projects for Oklahoma, sees them as the gateway drug to spending addiction in Congress. Despite such derision, Coburn's fellow members of Oklahoma's congressional delegation said they will continue to seek projects for the state, and several defended the practice as part of their job for their constituents. Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe said without the projects funds would go to other states and Oklahoma would fall behind. Saying he wanted to get "some things off my mind,'' Inhofe also provided examples such as the ongoing voluntary buyout at Tar Creek and the Non-Line of Sight Cannon defense project in Elgin that would not have occurred without funding being earmarked. Other members of the delegation offered other examples.

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ANOTHER CRISES LOOMING

The Edmond Sun, Edmond, OK - Another crisis looming.

EDMOND — “We have lent a huge amount of money to the U.S., so of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets. Frankly speaking, I do have some worries,” — Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, March 12, 2009. In some important ways economists are a lot like seismologists. Seismologists know, for example, that California will be struck by more major earthquakes in its future. While they do not know when the next major earthquake will strike, there is no doubt that a major earthquake is coming. Economists too, study earthquakes — economic earthquakes. Economists knew that the stock market bubble of the 1990s, and housing bubble earlier this decade were not sustainable. Economists knew that eventually those bubbles would burst, and that the U.S. economy would suffer as a result. Economists also knew that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were ticking time bombs. Those two governmental-sponsored enterprises used their unique connection to the federal government to borrow incredible sums of money at below-market rates and grow to an enormous size (once having purchased nearly one-half of all mortgages in the U.S.). Yet this unique connection to the federal government meant that U.S. taxpayers were on the hook for any losses.

CLICK ON BLUE WORDS FOR COMPLETE STORY.

COMANCHE COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY MEETING by Betty Simmons

Location: SW Oklahoma Blood Institute Conference Room, 211 SW A Ave

The Comanche County Democratic Party will hold its monthly meeting on March 16, 2009, 6 PM. Meeting is open to all registered democrats. Plans for our precinct meetings/county convention will be the major items of discussion. Refreshments will be provided. If you want change then change must begin within you. Come out and bring your neighbors, friends and family. For additional information contact the County Chair, Betty Simmons at 580-353-8072.

OPEN DOOR POLICY by Rep. Joe Dorman

 

This week has been a deadline week for the Oklahoma legislature as all House bills must pass out of the House of Representatives to the Senate and Senate bills must pass over to the House.  I have been diligently working on helping restructure the bond package from last year which the Supreme Court struck down as having too many different programs in one bill.  I think the new bond package on the conservation programs will fit under the scope expected by the judicial branch.  These bonds are needed to provide the necessary repairs to many of our flood control dams around the state.      The legislature considered an amendment I presented which would have allowed night hunting of feral hogs on private property outside of deer season.  This amendment was defeated for fear of poaching, but I argued we are punishing the honest people by preventing this and poachers will still break the law.  This idea was presented to by Ron Black of Wild Oklahoma, an Oklahoma outdoors show which airs locally.  They held a feral hog hunt on Saturday which collected game for their Paralyzed Veterans of America fundraiser which I attend each year.      I co-authored House Bill 1422 by Rep. Eric Proctor, which would guarantee tuition to post-secondary institutions for the children and spouses of soldiers who are killed in combat.  This is important as we have seen many of our soldiers give the ultimate sacrifice.  I also co-authored House Bill 1072 by Rep. Charles Key, which allows easier access for political parties to allow third party candidates access to the ballots in Oklahoma elections.  I also want to encourage the registered Democrats to please attend their local precinct meetings on Thursday night.  The more people who attend, the better representation for how people feel their party should handle issues.      On Tuesday, I had the chance to visit with the Leadership Class from Caddo Kiowa Career Technology Center.  I also had the opportunity to visit with the Leadership Class from Canadian Valley Career Tech last Thursday in Chickasha and attend the Elks Lodge pancake breakfast fundraiser on Saturday.  Other events I attended were the REC appreciation dinner for a our local volunteer firefighters and the Comanche County Livestock show.        I appreciate all the surveys which have been returned, both by mail and by email.  This is giving me a good insight to your views and how policies should be implemented.  We have had many bills heard which I do not feel are good for the people of our state and the rural way of life, so I look forward to sharing more on those as this deadline week ends.      It is an honor to represent your views at the State Capitol. If you wish to contact me and discuss one of these or another issue, I can be reached at my office in Oklahoma City toll-free at 1-800-522-8502, or directly at 1-405-557-7305. My e-mail address is joedorman@okhouse.gov at work.  My mailing address is PO Box 559 , Rush Springs , OK  73082 and my website is www.joedorman.com on the Internet.  Thank you for taking time to read this column and I look forward to seeing you soon.

BOTH PARTIES FORGETTING OUR CHILDREN by Mickey Hepner

The Edmond Sun, Edmond, OK - Both parties forgetting our children.