Weekly Opinion Editorial

LEGISLATORS STILL WORKING!
by Steve Fair

Just because they are out of session doesn’t mean that Oklahoma legislators are on vacation. Between each legislative session, the Speaker of the House and the Senate President Pro Tempore appoint “Interim Committees” to study important issues. This year, Speaker of the House Kris Steele, (R-Shawnee) approved 126 interim studies and President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman, (R-Sapulpa) approved 29 interim studies. The House and Senate web sites have a comprehensive list of the 155 studies. The Senate site is http://www.oksenate.gov/news/press_releases.aspx. The House site is http://www.okhouse.gov/committees/showinterimstudies.aspx.
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“Senate members have requested studies into some of Oklahoma’s most critical issues,” said Bingman. “I appreciate their focus and willingness to tackle such big issues in preparation for another great session in 2012.”
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Three local Stephens County legislators will be conducting studies on a variety of issues.
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Senator Anthony Sykes, (R-Moore) will be conducting three interim studies before the next legislative session. One will be a study on the growing problem of juvenile ‘sexting’ in Oklahoma. The study will review current law, ramifications of conviction under current law, how often the situation is presented to law enforcement, issues law enforcement may have with such occurrences, and how law enforcement addresses the situation.
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According to a 2008 report by he National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy (NCPTUP) http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/sextech/, 20% of teenagers ages 13–19 have “electronically sent, or posted online, nude or semi-nude pictures or video of themselves" This is a growing problem among youth that has resulted in teen suicide and bullying.

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Some states are considering legislation that would give judges the discretion to divert teen ‘sexting’ to an ‘educational reform program’ and prevent them from having to register as sex offenders.
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Sykes will also conduct a study on the need for the Oklahoma National Guard to acquire real estate, construct new facilities, and remodel legacy facilities and how to fund those needs.

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Sykes will also chair a study on Senior Nutrition sites and their funding. Oklahoma gets about $1.5 million annually through the federal government’s Older Americans Act nutrition program. How that money is allocated and used is important.

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Representative Dennis Johnson, (R-Duncan) will conduct a study on the age of children entering kindergarten. Johnson authored legislation this year that would have required children to reach the age of 5 before July 1st to enter kindergarten. It failed to gain passage. He ran the bill at the request of a teacher’s organization who conducted a comprehensive survey of kindergarten teachers across the state. The results revealed the vast majority of the teachers surveyed favored moving the age requirement up by four months. They believe it will help the child long term academically and emotionally. Johnson plans to run the legislation again in the 2012 session if the interim study reveals similar findings.

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Representative Corey Holland, (R-Marlow) and Representative Jason Murphy, (R-Guthrie) will review the statutory exemptions granted to Oklahoma’s Higher Education entities. The “statutory exemption” is designed to exempt from disclosure information that is required of other governmental agencies. In other words, to keep the public out of the loop on what is being done with taxpayer dollars.

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Holland has been vocal about higher education and the need for it to be more accountable to Oklahoma taxpayers. In a Duncan Banner article on June 2nd, Holland said, “Essentially, all the other state agencies, when they incur cuts, they make cuts. They live in the reality of the economic climate. Colleges and universities, though, when they face a budget cut, they raise the prices for tuition. They pass it on to the students. There needs to be a lot more accountability on higher ed.”

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One interim study being conducted by House Majority Leader Dale DeWitt, (R-Braman) could result in less elected officials. DeWitt wants to look into redrawing the boundaries of Oklahoma’s judicial districts (DA/Judges), which he says has not been done in twenty five years. During that same time, Oklahoma has lost a Congressional district. DeWitt says Oklahoma law requires that judicial districts be reapportioned as congressional districts change.

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Legislative interim studies are important because they allow lawmakers to conduct in-depth studies on an issue. It allows them to solicit opinions and counsel from their constituents and the public at large. That results in better laws and avoids the ‘unintended consequences’ that often happens with legislation crafted during session.

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If you have insight into one of the issues mentioned above, contact your legislator. They will appreciate your interest and it will help make for better government. Proverbs 11:14 says, “ For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisers make victory sure.”

Weekly Opinion Editorial

Age is a 'state' of mind!
by Steve Fair

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 13.5% of Oklahoma’s population is over the age of 65. Nationally that number is 12.9%. It is projected that by 2020, the percentage of Americans over the age of 65 will be 16.1% of the U.S. population and by 2030, one in five Americans will be over the age of 65. We are a graying population.
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In Stephens County 16.9% of the population is over the age of 65. Of all the counties bordering Stephens, only Jefferson County has a higher percentage in that demographic- 19.2%. The other counties’ numbers are: Cotton County- 16.2%, Carter County- 15%, Comanche County- 11%, and Grady County- 12.6%.
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Forty-five rural counties in Oklahoma had higher percentages of aging population than the statewide number. More of Oklahoma’s younger population is residing in the metropolitan areas- the larger cities- than in years past. Why is that?
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Primarily, it’s because youth from rural Oklahoma are moving to metro Oklahoma cities because that is where the jobs are. If rural counties expect to compete, they must do it by recruiting jobs and industry to their area. If they want to retain their young people, they can’t just rely on kids that want to get involved in production agriculture. They must have place for all of their educated youth to work in non-farm related areas.
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Politically, an aging population means a higher voter turnout at the polls. According to blogger Bruce Bartlett who analyzed the 2008 vote nationally, voters older than 65 are three times more likely to vote than 18-24 year olds. Bartlett concludes this graying of America will make it increasingly difficult for Congress to reform entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare because the members will not be courageous enough to stay up to the aging voter block.
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An aging rural population in Oklahoma will result in less influence for rural areas in the state legislature. During the reapportionment process this year, virtually every rural House and Senate district had to gain population while every metro House and Senate district had to lose population. Districts are drawn by population and not by voter turnout, so many rural districts will have the same population as the urban districts but with higher turnout because of the higher percentage of 65 plus voters.
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The aging population in rural Oklahoma presents some interesting fiscal challenges for Oklahoma government- both state and local. According to the Oklahoma Policy Institute, because government is the largest provider of heath insurance, the impact of health care on the state budget in the next decade will be significant.
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In a study conducted the OSU Center for Rural Health, they found there is a significant shortage of doctors in rural Oklahoma. The study said in rural Oklahoma there is a primary care physician for every 1,535 people compared with one physician for every 740 in the state’s urban areas. The specialty where the largest shortage exists was in geriatric medicine- physicians treating the elderly. Some have described the impact on health care of America’s baby boomers hitting 65 to a health care tsunami.
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Another major factor is the amount of revenue available to Oklahoma government will likely decline in coming years due to the aging of the population. The Oklahoma Policy Institute says the declining percentage of the rural Oklahoma population paying taxes and holding jobs will impact revenues in such a way that it will force the legislature into making some hard decisions on entitlement programs and government services.
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Mark Twain said, “Age is an issue of mind over matter. It you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” But an aging population does matter and it will impact Oklahoma in the coming years.
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Local and state leaders should be paying attention to these changing demographics before they look up one day and see their revenue down because a bunch of the population has retired. Local leaders in rural areas should be especially concerned because of the higher percentages of older citizens in their counties. By streamlining government and working to make it more efficient, they can prepare for the impact Oklahoma’s aging population will have on their budgets. It’s important government has a plan before that day arrives.

Weekly Opinion Editorial

COURT SHOULD NOT OVERRULE VOTERS!

by Steve Fair

Senator Anthony Sykes, (R-Moore) was the author of SQ #755 which passed overwhelmingly by state voters in November (70%-30%). It amended the Oklahoma state constitution by requiring that Oklahoma courts rely on federal or state laws when handing down decisions concerning cases and prohibited them from using international law or Sharia law when making rulings.

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Immediately after the passage of the state question The Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Oklahoma filed a lawsuit claiming the measure was unconstitutional because it unfairly targeted Muslims. Federal district judge Vicki Miles LaGrange agreed with CAIR and issued a temporary injunction delaying implemention of the bill.

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The lawsuit is now in the United States Court of Appeal for the 10^th circuit. On May 10th, the ACLU filed a brief on behalf of the plaintiff. They stated: “This amendment is nothing more than a blatant attempt to subvert the Constitution by enshrining anti-Muslim bigotry into state law The idea that followers of an entire faith should be treated like second-class citizens is ugly, discriminatory and profoundly un-American.”

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Sharia law is Muslim or Islamic law. It is based on the Quran and the religion of Islam. Most Muslim states are theocracies, so religious texts are law. Here are a few examples of Sharia Laws that all Muslims scholars agree on. (1) Drinkers, gamblers and those who fail to offer prayer five times a day must be whipped. (2) A husband may beat his disobedient wife. (3) A thief must have a hand cut off. (4) An adulterer should be stoned to death. (5) Anyone who leaves Islam must be killed.

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Critics of SQ 755 say its passage was unnecessary because Sharia law is not a threat in the United States and in particular Oklahoma, but based on how Sharia law has grown worldwide, SQ 755 got in front of an issue that threatens our way of life.

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Sharia Law entered Europe after WWII when the weakened European nations retracted from their colonies, bringing to Europe their former colonial subjects as both refugees and cheap labor from such Muslim nations as Pakistan (UK), Turkey (Germany) and Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia (France).

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Initially, Sharia law was applied discretely within the small Muslim communities of Europe. But after two generations of high birth rate and immigration, those communities have grown to where the Sharia law has now challenged the traditional rule of law in many European nations.

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In Germany, for example, Muslim men have successfully used the Sharia law in court to defend their right to beat their wives and to practice polygamy.

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In United Kingdom, where Islamic imams now outnumber Christian pastors and converting empty church buildings into mosques has become a cottage industry, the Archbishop of Canterbury - the leader of the Church of England - recently stated that adopting elements of the Sharia law into the English judicial system was “unavoidable”.

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British Muslim Cleric Anjem Choudary has said, “We believe the whole of the world must be under Shariah. America is not blessed by God. The American dream has become a nightmare.”

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Former CIA director R. James Woolsey estimates that the Saudis have spent nearly $90 billion since the mid-1970s to export their ideology into Muslim and non-Muslim countries alike. That may well be a conservative estimate.

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Awad and the ACLU’s reaction to Oklahoma voters’ rejection of Sharia law should be taken note of. If they don’t want to apply Sharia law in US courts as Awad has publically stated, then why challenge a law that bans it?

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The answer may be in a document was seized in 1982 by the Swiss government that outlined a 12 point strategy to “establish an Islamic government on earth,” identified as The Project. According to Swiss authorities, it was prepared by Islamic researchers and presented a multi phased long term approach to the cultural invasion of the West. One of those tenets was the incorporation of Sharia law into society and to use deceit as a means to accomplish it.

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Sykes says, “I firmly believe that the people of Oklahoma want us to defend SQ 755 and do everything to ensure that their voice is heard. As its author, I am committed to doing everything I can to see that SQ 755 takes effect in Oklahoma. As legislators, we owe it to the people to see that their voice is heard and not give up at the first sign of trouble.”

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In past years, courts overturning poll results were rare, but that is changing. At this point, the fate of SQ 755 rests in the hands of the 10^th Circuit. Sykes is optimistic the judges will not overrule the will of the people of Oklahoma. Let’s hope not.