2-2-2012 meeting of the Rotary Club of Chickasha

The Feb. 2, 2012 meeting of the Rotary Club of Chickasha opened with a prayer, pledge and songs.

The meeting was held at St. Luke's Episcopal because our normal meeting place, First Christian Church, was unavailable because of a funeral. President-elect Cody White presided in the absence of President Michael Oberlender. 

Guests included Deano Cox, Nathan Donald and Kendra Russell. Russell is a student who is attending USAO on a scholarship from an Oklahoma City Rotary Club.

Prayer concerns included Jerry Mottinger and Bill and Janice McVey.

Rotarian of the Day Jerry Pittman introduced Sen. Ron Justice and Rep. Joe Dorman as our guest speakers. The legislators previewed the upcoming session, which will open on Monday, Feb. 6.

Both of the legislators said that the next state budget will be "flat."

“We are looking for a standstill budget this year with about the same amount to appropriate as last year,” Justice, R-Chickasha, said. “As we look at the budget, we are hearing reports from the state treasurer that the economy is improving. I think we can get a false sense of security. The reason we need to be conservative is because a lot of one-time money was used in the past and we have to fill those holes.”

The legislators said committees will spend the first few days of the session reviewing 972 filed Senate bills and 962 filed House bills.

One of those bills is Dorman’s legislation to extend the state quality jobs program to apply to re-manufacturers. He cited a Rush Springs business that “re-manufacturers” wheels but isn’t eligible for the jobs program incentives that only pertain to “manufacturers.”

“We have to work with our homegrown businesses to help them grow,” Dorman, D-Rush Springs, said. 

Both legislators agreed that water would again be a big concern of the legislature.

“Water rights will be a big topic,” Justice said. “This is the most pressing long term issue we will deal with. We have been fighting over water since we became a state and we continue to fight.”

Dorman and Justice said the legislature needs to take a hard look at legislation that would phased out the state income tax, saying it can’t be paid for by tax increases in other areas.

Both legislators have bills they authored up for consideration.

Bills that Justice filed pertain to agriculture, education, elevator safety, loans for getting CDLs, abandoned oil wells, recycling asphalt roofing shingles, to name a few.

Dorman’s House Bill 3072 would introduce a pilot program to help reduce Oklahoma’s college drop out rate a by setting high school teaching at a level which would follow a college model in selected classes.

“Pilot programs are a great way to go about education reform in a careful manner that allows schools to volunteer to participate and try out an idea,” Dorman said. “I have been concerned about the drop out rate in Oklahoma for a long time and believe this pilot program would get high school students into the mindset of how to study and learn like a college student. We sometimes focus too much on memorization and basic skills when we should be focused on greater cognitive skills and critical thinking.”

Of Oklahoma’s 464 high schools, 260 offer Advanced Placement courses, Dorman said.

The 2-9-2012 meeting will be back at First Christian Church.

The meeting adjourned after recitation of the Rotary 4-Way Test.