3-4 Rotary meeting

The meeting opened with a prayer, plegde and song. Guests included Micha Butrler, Kyle Abrhams, James Winslow, Phillip Wint and Rotarian Harry Meister. President Mark Tibbets announced that the club would be making a contribution to the Rotary Foundation in memory of Dr. Hall. Other prayer concerns were Linda Stegall, Jean Chamberlain, Janic McVey, Steve LaForge and Dr. Rock Robertson, who was scheduled to have shoulder surgery on Friday, March 5. President Mark reminded club members that the district conference would be April 14-16 in Norman. Bret Burns reported that the Rotary 4-Way Test speech contest would be Saturday, March 6 at 1 p.m. at Chickasha High School. He asked members to help judge. Chris and John Mosley volunteered to greet high school freshmen on Friday, March 5, in relief of Bill McVey, et al. Rotarian of the Day was Nancy Smith, who introduced State. Sen. Ron Justice, R-Chickasha, who gave the club an update on what is going on in the Legislature. Following is a story of his speech, taken from the March 5, 2011 edition of the Chickasha Leader. As the Oklahoma legislative session enters its second month, "critical" budget issues remain a main hurdle facing legislators, Sen. Ron Justice, R-Chickasha, said Thursday. Speaking to members of the Chickasha Rotary Club, Justice said the state faces up to a $600 million shortfall. "The budget is a critical situation," Justice said. "Realistically, we have a $500 to 600 million deficit. We have to look at changes and cuts." One of the problems, Justice said, is finding money for programs that were funded last year with stimulus money. "We plugged some things last year," he said. "That was one-time money." Justice said he has a concern about the lack of jobs and small business development of rural Oklahoma. He told Rotarians about a town in his district where a business built motor mounts that were used at Air Force Bases in the state, only to see those jobs moved to the Oklahoma Metro Area in order for the business to keep the contract. "They only employed 10 people, but for that small town those jobs were important," Justice said. He said a bi-partisan effort must be made to locate businesses in rural Oklahoma. "If we don't create and retain jobs in this part of the state, it will impact the entire state," Justice, who is co-chair of the Republican Rural Caucus, said. Other topics Justice mentioned Thursday included: • Water. "This is a critical issues for Western Oklahoma, including Chickasha." • Health care: "This is an agenda item for the rural caucus. If you don't have good health care, you can't grow." • Immigration. Justice said he recently was named co-chair of a joint committee to study immigration issues facing the state. "We have to be realistic in approaching these issues." • Education. He said changes would be made in the state education board. He said the board would most likely have shared responsibilities with the state superintendent of education. • Duplication of services between agencies. "Government should be run like a business." The meeting closed with the recitation of the 4-Way Test.