Oklahoma House of Representatives
Mike W. Ray, Media Division Director
February 18, 2004

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Oklahoma House of Representatives recently continued its assault on drug use, endorsed a resolution on same-sex marriage, approved several "sunset" bills and passed some preliminary state budget bills.

The House has met its first deadline of this legislative session.

Feb. 19 was the deadline for House bills and resolutions to be endorsed or rejected by House committees. Now the Representatives will spend three weeks in daylong sessions, debating and voting on measures that received "do pass" recommendations from House committees.

MARRIAGE = 1 MAN + 1 WOMAN
A resolution in defense of "traditional" marriage passed the House without dissent.
House Resolution 1028 encourages Congress to initiate public hearings on U.S. House Joint Resolution 56, which decrees, "Marriage shall consist only of a union of a man and woman."

Congress should decide whether HJR 56 "should be adopted and ratified as an amendment to the Constitution ... defining marriage as only consisting of the union between a man and a woman..." An amendment tacked onto HR 1028 recommends that the proposed constitutional amendment should expressly ban civil unions and domestic partnerships, as well as gay marriages.

The state House will send copies of HR 1028 to Oklahoma's congressional delegation.

DRUG CRACKDOWN CONTINUES

House Bill 2176 would regulate sales of pseudoephedrine, including "any compound, mixture, or preparation containing any detectable quantity" of the drug, as well as its salts or isomers.

The legislation is designed to restrict the availability of methamphetamine in Oklahoma by making pseudoephedrine tablets a Schedule 5 substance, available only at a licensed pharmacy and requiring a photo ID and signature prior to sale. The prohibition pertains to pseudoephedrine in pill form, but not to any compounds, mixtures or
preparations in liquid, liquid capsule or gel capsule form.

HB 2176 decrees that no one would be allowed to "purchase, receive or otherwise acquire more than 9 grams of the substance -- the equivalent of nine boxes -- within any 30-day period.

In addition, HB 2176 would create a new crime for supplying "clean" urine intended to defraud a drug test. The misdemeanor offense could be punished with a county jail sentence of up to one year and/or a $1,000 fine.

The House embraced the measure without opposition, 99-0, and referred it to the Senate.

CLEANING OUT the ATTIC

State government continues to scale back in scope.
House Bill 2095 would abolish 13 committees, task forces and councils that are no longer deemed necessary. House Bill 2096 would preserve several boards that are still considered useful but would eliminate an advisory committee that was created 22 years ago. HB 2095 sailed through the House uncontested, 98-0, and HB 2096 was embraced in similar fashion, 96-0.

PARKS PARTNERSHIP PROPOSED
The state Tourism and Recreation Commission would be advised by House Bill 2318 to "explore the potential benefits of not-for-profit foundations for support of state parks."

The non-profit foundations are intended to attract contributions by private individuals, companies, foundations, corporations and others in the private and public sectors alike. The contributions would help underwrite "preservation of historic facilities, development of educational and interpretive programs, materials, and other means of
support," the bill relates.

The support would "serve only as a supplement to" state funding and "not substitute for the obligation of" the state government to "support the natural resources infrastructure" of Oklahoma, the bill stipulates.

The bill, which would clarify state law, passed the House, 98-0, and was sent to the Senate.

HEALTH CARE PARTNERSHIP PROPOSED
The Partnership for Long-Term Care Act would be created by House Bill 2565, which the House approved without dissent and transmitted to the Senate.

The legislation indicates that in the proposed "long-term care partnership program," individuals who secure private long-term care insurance and who experience "extended episodes of chronic illness" that exhausts all of their private insurance benefits would be eligible for continued care by in-home supportive services and by Medicaid.

In the bill, the Legislature recognizes that:
* Chronic long-term care illnesses threaten the health and welfare of thousands of Oklahoma families each year.
* Many Oklahoma families have no insurance to help pay "the catastrophic expenses of an extended chronic episode" requiring long-term care.

* The costs of medical care during a chronic illness are quite expensive and "force thousands of Oklahomans ... to spend down their income and savings of a lifetime and become dependent upon public assistance programs."

* The State of Oklahoma "cannot continue to be the insurer of last resort for increasing numbers" of citizens who need long-term care, "while at the same time meeting obligations to the poor persons who have no other means of caring for themselves," the Legislature acknowledges in HB 2565. In the bill the Legislature encourages residents of this state "to anticipate their potential long-term care needs by purchasing quality private long-term care insurance policies."

The bill provides that the state Health Care Authority, with approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and with the authorization of the U.S. Congress, would "develop and implement the Oklahoma Partnership for Long-Term Care Program." Assisted by the state Department of Human Services, the Health Care Authority would develop guidelines, criteria, and eligibility standards for the program.

The author of HB 2565 said the legislation would implement the health-care program in Oklahoma only if Congress gives its blessing.

Similar programs have been implemented in four states, she said, and have resulted in "a drastic reduction in Medicaid spending in nursing homes because people have taken responsibility for their own care."

GOVERNMENT SHOULD STOP IN-STATE
In House Bill 2320 the Legislature would concede that "there is a need for a centralized information source" to help Oklahoma businesses and industries "be in a stronger position to bid on state and local government contracts."

HB 2320 would instruct the State Finance Director to create and maintain an Oklahoma government bid assistance database "in an electronic format" and make that information available to potential vendors for state and local contracts.

The Office of State Finance reported that one-quarter of all non-payroll expenditures by the State of Oklahoma last year were made out-of-state, the author of the legislation told his colleagues; that sum totaled $700 million, he said. The OSF was unable to verify whether another 23 percent of all non-payroll expenditures -- or about $650
million in payments -- were made to companies that are based in Oklahoma or are headquartered in other states, the bill's author said.

That much money "would have supported 3,000 jobs here in Oklahoma,"
he added.
The House passed the proposal, 100-0, and referred it to the
Senate.
CIVIL RIGHTS CONFERENCE
Through House Concurrent Resolution 1048 the Representatives congratulated the League of United Latin American Citizens for scheduling a conference entitled "Status and Future of Minorities' Civil Rights in Oklahoma."

The goal of the conference is "to engage the public and private sectors and community leaders in creating awareness and learning opportunities about civil rights," the resolution explains. To accomplish that goal the league "hopes to create a dynamic forum of information exchange to address the many important and complex issues
associated with civil rights across the state."

The conference is scheduled March 6 at Oklahoma City Community College.
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