OCPAC email - Urgent action items for last week of session

[Charlie Meadows]

Members and friends of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action
Committee (OCPAC)

++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING
++ URGENT ACTION ITEMS
++ ANNOUNCEMENTS

++ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING

First let me say, the vast majority of Oklahoman’s escaped any damage
from Sunday’s storms, but some of our neighbors didn’t fare so well.
Please pray for them and if you have an opportunity to help them in
their time of need, please do so.

Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013 will be held at the
Character Inn Conference Center, 520 West Main Street in downtown OKC.
If I can obtain it, and I believe I can, we will show that segment of
last Thursday’s Glen Beck Show which featured the pastors from
Arkansas, Seattle and Edmond’s own, Paul Blair. We will also show a 4
minute advertiser of this year’s Reclaiming America for Christ
Conference, to be held at First Baptist Church in Moore on Friday and
Saturday, July 26th and 27th. Our main speaker this Wednesday will be
Colin Henderson from Lawton. A number of years ago, Colin was sent to
the Narconon re-hab center at the old Arrowhead Resort, once owned by
the state. He became alarmed at strange treatment ideas and what he
considered as the hidden connection with the Church of Scientology and
its founder L. Ron Hubbard. Colin has perhaps done more than anyone in
Oklahoma to bring light to the operations of what some might say is a
cult like re-hab center. A year or 2 ago, he was successful in quietly
exposing it to the school system in Purcell and thus keeping them from
signing up with the program. The program has had several suspicious
deaths and is now the object of several law suits, with Gary
Richardson as the attorney representing the families of those that
died at the facility. Colin’s efforts have also helped to get
legislation passed this year to bring some state oversight to this
questionable program that receives taxpayer dollars. You won’t want to
miss this week’s meeting.

++ URGENT ACTION ITEMS

The legislative session will most likely end sometime between
Wednesday to Friday of this week. Therefore, there are several items
this week that are as important as anything this year for the grass
roots activists to contact their legislators. I have been inundated
over the past few days with calls, e-mails, snail mail and personal
conversations when I was at the Capitol last Thursday, all were folks
or lobbyists wanting me to support or oppose certain pieces of
legislation. Some are important bills to support or oppose that I will
NOT list in this week’s e-mail. I am only going to mention what I
believe are just 4 of the most important issues left for the session
and thus urge our readers to contact their lawmakers on these issues.

1) STOP COMMON CORE - Both of our 2 U.S. Senators are opposed to
the latest federal government overreach in education which is now
known as Common Core Curriculum. Also, T.W. Shannon, Oklahoma Speaker
of the House, came out against CCC this past week, which was huge.
Please contact your personal State Representative and ask them to
support HB 1719, a bill to repeal the state’s involvement in CCC. In
addition, please contact your personal State Senator and ask them to
support HB 1719 if it comes to the senate, by all means they should
support a vote on HB 1719. Unfortunately, Senate leader Brian Bingman
(R-Sapulpa) is a supporter of CCC and may not allow it to see the
light of day. The reality is, almost every problem in the senate can
be traced to Senator Bingman and then if we keep tracing to the
highest level, the State Chamber of Commerce. If you don’t know the
office number for your state representative, the House switchboard is
(405) 521-2711 and the Senate is (405) 524-0126. Your calls need to be
made right away as the session may likely end by Wednesday evening.

2) STOP $80 MILLION THROWAWAY DOWN A BLACK HOLE - We now know the
plan for the state’s good ole boys at the legislature to throw another
$40 million dollars down the black hole known as the Indian Heritage
Culture Center museum. Since Speaker Shannon and the House is firmly
opposed to any additional bonded indebtedness, Senator, Big Government
Clark Jolley (R-Edmond), is sponsoring SB 1132 which will require 40
million in future taxes to be spread over the next 3 years to finish
the museum. Ever wonder the real reason we can’t get a tax cut of any
consequence? It is because of schemes like this from liberal
Republican senators

In a brief moment of openness and honesty from Senator Jolley, he did
say in the Friday’s edition of the Oklahoman regarding the museum: “I
don’t believe it will be profitable, but right now it would be less of
an issue for us once operational funds come in to offset it,” he went
on to say “We would at least be cutting our losses.”

I agree with the losses part of the Senator‘s statement. However, the
best way for the state to cut its losses on this project would be to
make a deal with Oklahoma City, the primary entity hoping to benefit
from the museum, to take over from the state and finish the project.
In addition, if OKC refuses to take the project, then the State needs
to negotiate with one or more Tribal governments to finish the project
even if it means state support for the property to be put into “Indian
Trust” land. That way the Tribe or Tribes would be allowed to have a
casino on site or profit from retail development that is supposedly
chomping at the bit to locate on the property. The thought of that
happening should be enough to get OKC off high center and get the deal
finished as they would not benefit from any sales or property taxes
from the operations if the Tribes took it over. If neither of those
options work out, mothball the project and put up a huge monument to:
“the abused but recently awakened taxpayers” as a reminder for
government to never go down this improper function of government path
again.

This is very important since we have not learned this lesson as yet.
Senator, Big Government Clark Jolley (R-Edmond), is also sponsoring SB
1133 to provide another $40 million in future taxes to build the
“Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture” in Tulsa. This future boondoggle
which will most likely require forever operational subsidies if it is
ever built just like the boondoggle in OKC, is promoted by Senator
Jolley to get support from the Tulsa lawmakers to finish the Indian
Heritage Cultural boondoggle in OKC. Kind of a hey Tulsa lawmakers, we
will scratch your backs if you will scratch ours and who gives a damn
about the taxpayers. This only passed out of a special senate
committee last week by 1 vote, even with strong Democrat support. It
now has to pass a House Committee and then be passed on the floor in
both chambers. Therefore, call your personal Senator and State
Representative and politely ask them to oppose SB 1132 and SB 1133.
Senate switchboard is (405) 524-0126 and House switchboard is (405)
521-2711.

3) SUPPORT OVERIDE OF GOVERNOR’S VETO - In what appears to be a tit
for tat or cut your nose of to spite your face tantrum, the Governor
vetoed an exceedingly important pilot project, HB 2077 to allow some
future state employees to have a choice to opt out of the shaky state
“defined benefit” retirement plans and enroll in a “defined
contribution” 401-K plan. It is a very generous plan as the state
would provide a 100% match up to 7% of an employees salary to be
invested, tax deferred, as the employee chooses. It appears as the
Governor vetoed HB 2077 because her plan (a plan I strongly agree
with) to consolidate the administrations of several retirement
agencies and thus save up to $50 million a year didn’t make it through
the legislature. The House will vote to override and it will probably
pass, but it has a more difficult future in the Senate, again because
of Senate President Pro-Tem Bingman (R-Sapulpa). In Sunday’s edition
of the Oklahoman, Bingman said he didn’t support a veto override
attempt. He said “We’ve had a great session, You’d hate to end (the)
session on a negative vote.” Sorry Senator Bingman, but passing good
legislation, even if it requires a veto override, isn’t negative,
passing good legislation is always a good thing. Besides calling your
personal State Representative and Senator to ask them to support the
veto override of HB 2077, please call Senator Bingman’s office (405)
521-5528, bin...@oksenate.gov and ask that he ALLOW for a veto
override VOTE even if he wants to vote against it.

* SUPPORT HB 1622 - Thanks to the Senate, this has been a brutal
year for 2nd amendment issues. One very import piece of legislation
still on life support is HB 1622 which would allow PRIVATE schools to
set their own policies regarding the arming of administration or staff
to protect teachers and children from a crazed intruder has just been
put in “time” jeopardy as now the House and Senate legal staffs are
arguing over a few wording technicalities. Please call or e-mail the
following and ask them to expedite HB 1622 for a floor vote. Senator
Greg Treat (405) 521-5632, tr...@oksenate.gov, Senator Mike Schulz
(405) 521-5612, sch...@oksenate.gov, Senator Brian Bingman (405)
521-5528, bin...@ok.senate.gov, Representative Steve Martin (405)
557-7402, steve...@okhouse.gov, and Representative Pam Peterson
(405) 557-7341, pampe...@okhouse.gov

Defeat or passage of these 4 very important items will go a long way
toward determining the quality or lack thereof this year’s legislative
session. Please call right away.

++ ANNOUNCEMENTS

* TUESDAY EVENING - EDMOND AREA - Several experts opposing Common
Core Curriculum will present factual information about the problems
with CCC. The public is invited, the meeting will be held at the
Edmond Community Center, 28 East Main Street in downtown Edmond from 7
to 9:00 p.m. During our meeting with Janet Barresi this past
Wednesday, a member of the Edmond Republican Women’s Club invited Dr.
Barresi to attend this meeting to listen to these presenters, she said
she was trying to make that happen. Hopefully it will happen as I
would like to see Dr. Barresi comment on the information presented, in
other words, lets talk about the subject in front of the public to
find and take the best path forward.

* TUESDAY EVENING - TULSA AREA - The Tulsa Area Republican
Assembly will host their monthly meeting this Tuesday evening at the
Golden Corral, 71st and Mingo streets. Folks will gather at 6 for
dinner with the meeting beginning at 6:45 p.m. The speaker will be the
Tulsa City Councelor, Blake Ewing, sizing up the field for the Tulsa
Mayor’s race.

* THURSDAY EVENING - WEATHERFORD AREA - The area members of the
John Birch Society will host an “Introduction to Activism through the
John Birch Society” meeting from 7 to 8:30 p.m. this Thursday evening
at the Pine Acres Church, 1321 Lark Street in Weatherford. If you want
to be an effective citizen and you live anywhere in the area, please
attend this meeting. I plan on attending and hope to see as many of
our readers in the area as possible attend this meeting to check out
this presentation.

I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.

Charlie Meadows
Charlie...@gmail.com

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