State and federal representatives focus on 2024 issues

Jan. 19—State representatives and federal field representatives updated those in attendance at the Meet Your Legislators event held Thursday at the Stillwater Public Library on their priorities for 2024.

City and Payne County elected officials were in attendance, but the focus was on state legislators and federal field representatives.

SPL Director Stacy DeLano said more than 100 guests attended, and she said it's the first time there has been a federal presence at the annual event.

"What has occurred tonight is that people with different views and different ideas have come together and shared information and ideas, and we did it civilly," DeLano told the audience. "And that is what can get us moving in the right direction."

Federal perspective

Josh Owen, deputy state director for U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, and Peyton Burns, field representative for U.S. Sen. James Lankford, spoke about key issues that Mullin and Lankford are focused on this year.

Mullin helped lead legislation on a Tribal Firearm Access Act for Tribal members to lawfully purchase firearms using their Tribal government-issued identification and not a State I.D. The bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday.

In addition, both representatives said Mullin and Lankford were glad to help Congress avoid a government shutdown. The bill (called a continuing resolution, or CR) was passed 77-18 in the U.S. Senate and 314-108 in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday afternoon.

Other issues the senators are focusing on is securing the border and the current fentanyl crisis. Burns said Senator Lankford is focused more on securing America's borders than passing legislation to fund the Ukraine and Israel-Hamas wars.

Burns said a recent report spread about negotiations from a deal that Lankford and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had made on an amnesty bill for illegal immigrants was untrue.

"I want to clarify that there is no deal on the border yet," Burns said. "There is no deal on the border."

He said the senator is also working on a bill that would prevent government shutdowns in future.

Both Owen and Burns said that collaboration is needed to get more done on both sides of the aisle.

"Not getting political, but Republicans control the House, Democrats control the Senate and the Democrats control the White House," Owen said. "So, we have a very split government at the moment and there's going to be a lot of stuff that comes out that neither side is going to be happy with, but if we don't work to get stuff accomplished now ... we might not get a chance for a long time."

The two federal representatives fielded questions regarding fossil fuels and renewable energy, encouraging more people to vote, improving air quality, investing dollars back into the community, rural infrastructure and rural health care and mental health.

State perspective

Sen. Tom Dugger (District 21), Rep. John Talley (District 33), Rep. Trish Ranson (District 34) and Rep. Ty Burns (District 35) also spoke on their goals for the upcoming year as well as answering questions from the audience.

Dugger announced in September 2023 that he won't run for re-election, and he noted some issues he's focusing on in his last term are the budget, healthcare and education.

He also noted the new district allocation for Districts 20 and 21. Oklahoma State University campus and east to Mannford is District 21, and the southwest part of Stillwater is now District 20.

Ranson said she will focus on the State budget and recruiting and retaining State employees. In addition, among other issues, she highlighted the need for more policy on homelessness, and helping 501 (c)(3) nonprofits meet the need in communities.

"We have policy, and then we have need," Ranson said. "So, how do we make sure that the gap between policy and need is enough?"

Burns said infrastructure is important for rural communities, something he has worked on since the beginning of his first term in 2018.

He told the News Press that the Oklahoma Certified Beef Act that he authored and helped pass in 2020, with $25 million in funding will hopefully move to "phase 2 or 3," to encourage any business to move to Oklahoma and open a meat-processing plant.

Talley is chairman of the Committee on Children, Youth and Family Services and one of his focuses is better and cheaper daycare services. He is also working on a revised bill preventing corporal punishment in schools.

"I'm going to apologize to the legislature in the Senate for maybe not explaining my bill enough to get it passed ... I'm just talking about taking away the spanking, hitting and slapping," Talley said. "If we're going to keep the corporal punishment in schools, we need to have rules around it."

Other topics discussed were the homelessness in local communities, initiative petitions, reducing penalties on the state ban for cock fighting (the bill is not going anywhere), the legislation proposed by Rep. Justin Humphries banning furries in schools (which Burns said is a "ploy"), ranked choice voting, cutting sales tax on groceries and funding a religious school.