By Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy CEO Joe Dorman
As the first full week of session has ended, the lawmakers at the Oklahoma State Capitol are hard at work with shepherding their legislation through the committee process.
The Legislature has implemented a new committee deadline system which has extended the time for hearings by committees; in the House of Representatives, they have established that most bills will be heard by two separate committees. This is an attempt to front-load much of the work to go over the bills and have them in better shape when they move the full House of Representatives for discussion. This idea has a great deal of merit.
Lawmakers are also continuing the effort to improve the transparency of the budgetary process. This is something advocates, and every Oklahoman, should applaud as we see similar conversations at the federal level.
As the legislation moves forward, the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) works with lawmakers to promote ideas, and to stay connected with others who are moving their own agenda items forward. In this column and in subsequent weeks, I will highlight some of the House bills I hope you will also review and encourage lawmakers to support.
Rep. Mark Tedford, R-Jenks, has filed legislation to modify the process for awarding child custody to parents going through the court process. OICA worked with him, along with other advocates, to attempt to shorten the long, drawn-out process of costly legal battles in the court system and attempt to establish a more solid opportunity for parents to have 50/50 custody of their children. This arrangement is something social science has shown will most benefit children. House Bill 1082 is currently in Civil Judiciary/Judiciary & Public Safety Oversight awaiting consideration.
Rep. Mark Lawson, R-Sapulpa, sat down with advocates to develop a new concept to ensure that children are safe when in custody of the state or housed in other children’s institutions which receive state or federal funding. The Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth would have the ability to investigate complaints, review inspection reports from other government agencies regarding the facility, and interview residents (children) within the facility to ensure that they are safe.
This is in direct response to the issues seen with the Tulsa Juvenile Detention Center and that mirrors issues from the 1980s that led to a massive overhaul of the way Oklahoma cares for justice-involved youth. House Bill 1574 is in the Children, Youth & Family Services/Health & Human Services Oversight committees.
House Bill 2921 by Rep. Ajay Pittman, D-Oklahoma City, seeks to allow dental therapists to operate in Oklahoma. With the increased need for dental care in our state and a limited number of dentists, this would create and authorize the practice of training these health care providers. They would be able to apply specific care to patients which will help in decreasing issues with dental problems before they escalate.
If the bill passes, dental therapists will have to receive university training, and the therapists could be hired under dental practices to work throughout Oklahoma. The bill is in the House Public Health/Health & Human Services Oversight Committees.
Finally, some sad news to report: two excellent lawmakers with whom I served passed away last week. Former Reps. Bill Nations, D-Norman, and Ryan Kiesel, D-Seminole, both did exemplary work to make our state better for all Oklahomans. Bill was Ryan’s mentor in the Legislature. Ryan had helped Bill win his first legislative election, and then a few years later, Ryan was elected and joined him. Our state is better for them having served, and I will miss them both.
