Legislative Update

More oversight for state agencies

November 7, 2019

House Speaker Charles McCall has launched a new initiative to increase legislative oversight and assess the performance of agency governing boards. “The Legislature has been too deferential and hands-off with these governing boards for most of state history, and the House is going to change that,” said McCall, R-Atoka. McCall is assigning House committees to…

Survey: Pastors weren’t overly prepared for retirement

November 7, 2019 Aaron Earls

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Most retirement age pastors and missionaries say their current life is close to ideal, but some who have entered retirement say they could’ve been better prepared. In a survey sponsored by Shepherd’s Fold Ministries, Nashville-based LifeWay Research asked 2,451 pastors, ministers and missionaries who were retired or at least 67 years old…

Folds of Honor helps the families of fallen heroes

November 7, 2019

OWASSO (PRNewswire) — Folds of Honor was founded by Captain Dan Rooney above his garage in 2007 with a dream to provide the gift of education to military families impacted by war. A veteran of three combat tours in Iraq, Rooney was recently promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and today, he has a…

Gov. Stitt names Justin Brown as new director of DHS

June 13, 2019

Governor Kevin Stitt has appointed Justin Brown Director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS). “Justin is a fellow Oklahoman who has a strong record of helping healthcare and human-service oriented businesses become great success stories in their delivery of compassionate care,” said Stitt. “His time working at the Villagio Senior Living is just…

Bill reforms long-term care

June 13, 2019

SB 888 will allow seniors to take advantage of options counseling to ensure they are fully informed of their options prior to admission to a long-term care program, including less costly choices like home health and adult day services. One option provided under SB 888 is the PACE program, which is a Medicare and Medicaid…

Workers Comp reform bill passes

June 13, 2019

The Oklahoma Senate approved legislation that preserves and strengthens landmark workers’ compensation reforms adopted in 2013. House Bill 2367 passed unanimously and now goes to the governor’s desk for consideration. Senator Julie Daniels, Senate Judiciary Committee chair, is the Senate author of the bill and said HB 2367 clarifies and secures the reforms while addressing…

Office to evaluate the state budget

June 13, 2019

The Oklahoma House of Representatives passed a measure creating a legislative office to evaluate agency budgets and programs for lawmakers. Senate Bill 1 would create the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency (LOFT) within the existing Legislative Service Bureau (LSB). The LSB is a shared office between the House of Representatives and the Senate that currently…

RESTORE task force being formed

June 13, 2019

Governor Kevin Stitt issued Executive Order 2019-22 to form the Criminal Justice Reentry, Supervision, Treatment and Opportunity Reform (RESTORE) Task Force. “This task force will bring together all stakeholders to discuss the criminal code, diversion programs, victims’ rights, and our prison system. When Oklahoma comes together as one team, we can create bold change that…

Bail system reform bill gets passed

June 13, 2019

The Oklahoma Senate passed Senate Bill 252, which reforms the state’s bail system. SB 252 ensures that most people accused of misdemeanors or nonviolent felonies are considered for unsecured release and are detained only if they threaten public safety or have a history of failing to appear in court.

Barbering, massages in SB 101

June 13, 2019

Sen. Paul Scott, R-Duncan, is the author of Senate Bill 101 to update Oklahoma’s barbering and massage therapist licensing rules. “We have individuals who have diplomas for completing competent training in another state or country and are not allowed to qualify for a license, take examination, or work in Oklahoma due to our current licensing…