Oklahoma House of Representatives
Mike W. Ray, Media Division Director
March 3, 2004

Summary of House Floor Activity March 2-3, 2004

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The state House tackled a wide range of issues recently, including domestic abuse and workplace harassment, protections for nursing home residents, nauseating odors, estate taxes, teacher training, tuition increases, vanity license plates and motor fuels taxes.

The House continued holding daylong sessions to dispose of the 400 bills and resolutions that House committees passed last month.

DON'T BEAT the SPOUSE or KIDS
The crime of domestic abuse would be elevated from a misdemeanor to a felony by House Bill 2626.

The legislation provides that anyone convicted of domestic abuse could be confined in a state penal facility for one to seven years or in a county jail for up to one year, and/or fined up to $5,000. A second offense could be punished by imprisonment for two to ten years and/or a fine of $10,000.

State law defines domestic abuse as assault and battery against a current or former spouse, the spouse of one's ex-wife or ex-husband, parents, a foster parent, a child, a person "otherwise related by blood or marriage," a person the defendant is or has been dating, an individual "with whom the defendant has had a child," or a person who
does or formerly did live in the same household as the defendant.

The House embraced the bill, 94-4, and referred it to the Senate.
"Currently, under Oklahoma law, if you kick a dog or starve a horse, it's a felony," said the author of HB 2626, an attorney. "But if one spouse assaults another, it's only a misdemeanor."

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation has indicated that domestic abuse reports increased 51.5 percent between 1993 and 2002. The agency counted 25,157 domestic violence cases that were reported to Oklahoma law enforcement agencies in 2002, resulting in 45 homicides, 6,692 felony assaults, 540 violent sex crimes, and 17,880 felony charges of assault and battery.

According to the Oklahoma Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, 15,083 women and children received services from Oklahoma domestic violence agencies in Fiscal Year 2003. The Violence Policy Center has ranked Oklahoma 10th nationally in the number of females murdered by males.

BACK OFF, BUB!
An employer would be able to request a court injunction against any person who threatens or harasses one of the company's employees, under House Bill 2395.

An employer would be required to file a written petition with the court detailing the events and dates of the hectoring.

Before an injunction could be issued, a judge would have to find "reasonable evidence" of workplace harassment or that "good cause exists to believe that great or irreparable harm would result" to the employer, visitors to the employer's property, or any person performing official work duties.

The bill defines workplace harassment as "a single act of physical harm or damage, or a series of acts over any period of time that would cause a reasonable person to be seriously alarmed."

If an injunction were granted, it would act like a restraining order, barring the defendant from coming near the place of business or the employee while he or she is at work. Violators of an injunction could face arrest for contempt of court. The bill stipulates that an employer would be immune from civil liability "for seeking or failing to seek" an injunction.

The bill's title was stricken at the request of the author, who said he wants to ensure that his legislation "will withstand constitutional scrutiny" and not infringe on any type of free speech, including strikes or labor disputes. "This is about preventing intimidation in the workplace," he asserted previously.

HB 2395 passed the House without dissent and was delivered to the Senate.

SEWING SHUT
A SEX OFFENDER LOOPHOLE
House Bill 2110 would ensure that the minimum registration requirement under the state's sex offender registry could not be reduced by time served in prison, on parole or probation. The bill's author said it would correct "an unintended oversight."

Habitual or aggravated sexual offenders are required to register for life under the state's Sex Offenders Registration Act. All other sex offenders are required to register with the Department of Corrections and local authorities for a decade.

HB 2110 specifies that the 10-year registration period would begin to count only after completion of a term behind bars, on probation or parole, regardless of any time registered while serving a suspended sentence or other probationary term.

The House approved the legislation, 92-6, after removing a portion of the bill that would have allowed convicted sex offenders to remain on property located near schools if they resided on the property prior to Nov. 1, 2003. Offenders are not required to sell real estate acquired before their conviction.

NURSING HOME OVERSIGHT
A doctor called to sign a death certificate for a resident of a nursing home would be required by House Bill 2309 to "personally view and examine the body" before he/she could sign the document.

The bill also would require nursing centers in Oklahoma to allow any resident of the facility, or a resident's guardian or other legal representative, to monitor the resident's room "through the use of electronic monitoring devices..." The monitoring would have to be disclosed in "a conspicuous notice at the entrance to the resident's
room."

The bill passed the House without opposition, 97-0, and was delivered to the Senate.
OLFACTORY OVERLOAD
Research into odor abatement, reduction and control methods for confined animal feeding operations would be required by House Bill 2623. The bill would direct the State Board of Agriculture, Food and Forestry to coordinate such a study with Oklahoma State University and Panhandle State University.

A section of the bill that proposed granting hog farm owners a tax credit for investing in odor abatement technology or donating to one of the two universities for research into odor abatement was deleted by the House. The credit would have been equivalent to 95 percent of the capital outlay or the donation.

The legislators turned thumbs down on the tax credit after it was pointed out that the state Department of Agriculture collects $590,000 per year from fees assessed on concentrated animal feeding operations, but spends approximately $823,500 to regulate the swine industry. That's a deficit of nearly one-quarter of a million dollars.

The amended bill was approved, 98-1, and was sent to the Senate.

WIDENING ESTATE TAXES
Two bills that would authorize more relatives to claim an exemption from estate taxes have received tentative approval from the House of Representatives.
House Bills 1803 and 1317 passed the House but with their titles stricken, a procedural maneuver which indicates both measures are expected to be sent to a House/Senate conference committee for refinement and consolidation.

Under existing law, estate tax exemptions are confined to lineal heirs (parents and children). The exemption does not extend to collateral heirs (brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, and cousins). Both House bills would treat collateral heirs the same as lineal heirs.

HB 1317 would phase in, between 2006 and 2009, estate tax exemptions for siblings of a decedent; the exemption would be $250,000 in 2006 and increase by a quarter-million dollars each year until it reached $1 million in 2009. HB 1803, in comparison, would allow brothers and sisters to claim the same estate tax exemption that already is accorded to parents and children.

Seven years ago, in Fiscal Year 1997, the state treasury received $83 million from estate taxes, ledgers reflect. State receipts from estate taxes totaled $81.4 million in FY 1998 and $88.8 million in FY 99; receipts in FY 2000 were $87.5 million, and in 2001 the receipts were $84.6 million. Receipts from the tax are projected at $74.3 million in FY 2005.

Estate tax receipts are declining for at least two reasons. The economy and the stock market have a direct effect on the value of estates. In addition, in 1998 the Legislature adopted a tax relief package that is raising the estate tax exemption from $175,000 to $1 million over an eight-year period, to put the state on equal footing with the federal government; the state exemption reaches its apex in 2006.

The Oklahoma Tax Commission receives approximately 6,000 to 7,500 estate tax returns each year, records reflect.

HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS
The House passed a bill which dictates that effective July 1, 2006, no independent public school district in Oklahoma could hire any seventh- or eighth-grade English, science or social studies teacher unless the educator were licensed or certified to teach that course at the middle or secondary level "or has received middle level
endorsement..."

House Bill 1136 was approved by an 83-15 vote and was transmitted to the Senate.
Any teacher who needs the certification required by HB 1136 could acquire it by completing the Oklahoma Subject Area Test "in the appropriate subject area" administered by the Oklahoma Commission for Teacher Preparation.

To get a middle level endorsement in English, science or social studies, a teacher would have to complete a 30-hour professional development institute that would be competency-based, emphasize effective learning practices, and would require the participants to prepare a work product "which can be utilized in the classroom by the
participant."

HB 1136 would give seventh and eighth grade teachers two years, until July 1, 2006, to secure the requisite license, certificate or endorsement.

The state legislation was prompted by the federal "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001," the author of the measure indicated.

Just recently the House of Representatives joined the growing ranks of public officials across the nation who are complaining that Congress is not funding the "No Child Left Behind" education law at sufficient levels.

House Concurrent Resolution 1052 praised some provisions of the federal law, but called on Congress to modify other elements of the law.

However, the Oklahoma House enthusiastically embraced an amendment which declared, "In view of the fact that education is not part of the enumerated powers of the United States Congress ... and in view of the fact that Congress is not properly funding the mandates of the 'No Child Left Behind' legislation," Congress should repeal the law..
The amended resolution breezed through the House and was referred to the Senate.

INQUIRING MINDS
WANT to KNOW -- IN ADVANCE
A measure that would direct the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education to notify the Legislature each year about proposed tuition increases passed the House in a split vote, 54-42. The emergency clause that would enact House Bill 1822 immediately if it passes the Senate and is signed by the Governor, failed to gain the required two-thirds approval.
HB 1822 decrees that prior to Feb. 15 each year, the State Regents would provide a report of proposed tuition and fee increases to the Governor and legislative leaders.
Members of the House and Senate appropriations committees would meet before March 15 each year with the Chancellor of the State Regents for Higher Education to discuss those increases.

The House spurned an amendment that would have deleted from the bill a section which declares that "no such proposed tuition and fee increases shall be considered a factor in determining the appropriation amount to be made to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education for institutions in the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education."

Two House members noted that just last year the Legislature gave higher education regents the authority to set tuition at state colleges and universities, but it appears that already the Legislature wants to rescind that power. The two legislators recommended letting institutions of higher education control their tuition rates for at least another
year.

"My bill simply asks the State Regents to come to the Capitol and tell us how much they are going to raise tuition," the bill's author said. "It's information that we, as legislators, need to know in order to appropriate state funds wisely."

The bill's title was stricken, which ensures that it will return to the House for reconsideration if it passes the Senate.

HIGHER FEES = SELF-FUNDING
House Bill 2400 would increase fees and penalties collected for state private school licenses, and would increase penalties for non-compliance. The House divided in passing the measure, 71-18, and referred it to the Senate.

The bill arose from zero-base budgeting hearings the Legislature held last year. The legislation would raise an estimated $150,000 "and would make the Oklahoma Board of Private Vocational Schools a self-funded agency," according to the bill's principal author.

The Legislature appropriated almost $153,000 to the agency for the current FY 2004; that sum constituted a 7.85 percent budget reduction from the preceding year.

The base fee for each new license issued by the board would be raised $200, to $1,200, by HB 2400. Annual renewal fees would be based on a school's total tuition income, and would range in increments from a $700 renewal fee for tuition income of $50,000 or less, to a $1,500 renewal fee for tuition income of $3,000,001 or more.

The maximum fine for violating any provision of the act would quintuple, from $500 to $2,500; the minimum fine would remain $100. An offender also could be jailed for a month.

All of the proposed fees and increases would "be used exclusively for the purpose of operations and functions of the Oklahoma Board of Private Vocational Schools," HB 2400 stipulates.

DON'T JUMP the GUN
Legislation approved by the House would assure insurance policy holders that they could call their insurance company to inquire about making a claim, without fear that those questions could be used against them.

House Bill 2324 would prevent an insurer from increasing rates, cancelling a policy, or refusing to issue or renew a policy "solely on the basis of a policyholder inquiring about making a claim."

The author of the bill, who has chaired the House Insurance Committee for 20 years, said he has received several complaints over the years from individuals who claim they have been penalized by insurance companies for inquiring about whether to file a claim on a loss, despite the fact that they never actually filed a claim. He said the legislation
was "good public policy" that allowed consumers to make educated decisions about policies they purchase.

The House apparently agreed, voting 98-0 in favor of the bill and sending it to the Senate.

REMEMBER ME?
License plates for former Oklahoma legislators would be authorized by House Bill 2241.

There may be quite a bit of demand for the vanity plates next year, since 42 House and Senate members are retiring from the Legislature in mid-November: one voluntarily and 41 others because of constitutionally imposed term limits.

Half a dozen other license plates would be created, too, by HB 2241, raising the number of specialized tags offered in Oklahoma to more than 90.

The new plates would include tags recognizing the Northern Cherokee Nation of the Old Louisiana Territory, Oklahoma Aquarium plates to demonstrate support for the new aquarium in Jenks, Honorary Consul plates for people "authorized by the United States to perform consular duties," "The Pride of Broken Arrow" to honor the school's marching
band, Girl Scouts supporter license plates, and "Color Oklahoma" tags "to demonstrate support for preserving and planting wildflowers and native plants" in this state.

The bill passed the House in a split vote, 77-20, and was transported to the Senate.

MOTOR FUELS TAXES
Another measure to refer to the voters a motor fuels tax increase passed the House in a split vote, 52-38.

House Bill 2632 would call for a statewide vote on raising the 16-cent gasoline excise tax by a nickel per gallon, and increasing the 13-cent diesel tax by 8 cents per gallon. The increases would be phased in over a three-year period. The additional revenue would be dedicated to improvement of state highways, county roads and municipal streets, as well as bridges.

A similar measure, House Bill 2559, calls for a vote of the people on a proposal to raise the gasoline tax by 7 cents per gallon and the diesel tax by 9 cents. In addition, an amended House Joint Resolution 1050 would phase in an increase in the percentage of motor vehicle license and registration taxes that are allocated to highway
construction and maintenance.

The House gave its tentative approval to all three measures, but they are expected to be sent to a House/Senate conference committee for consolidation and refinement.
According to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, one-fourth of the 12,266 miles of highway in this state need to be repaired or replaced, and nearly one-fourth of the 6,728 highway bridges in Oklahoma are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete and ought to be renovated or replaced.

In addition, Oklahoma has more than 85,000 miles of county roads plus 14,340 county-owned and county-maintained bridges -- approximately half of which need to be repaired or replaced -- records show.

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