OKLAHOMA CITY — Governor Brad Henry’s signature on a bill aimed at keeping sex predators off Internet Web sites that attract children is drawing praise from the measure’s author and a promise to make the measure even tougher next year.
On Friday, State Rep. Paul Wesselhoft, R-Moore, said he was pleased by Henry’s endorsement of House Bill 1714 and added that he would work “to strengthen” the bill next year.
Henry signed HB 1714 Thursday.
“This is commonsense legislation that will help protect children using the Internet,” the governor said in a media statment. “It builds on the progress of Oklahoma’s Safe Net initiative.”
That initiative, which became law last year, established a full-time Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) unit within the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
On Friday, Wesselhoft thanked Henry for his support.
“It’s very commendable,” he said. “I’m absolutely convinced it’s going to save lives. I think that’s crucial.”
The bill allows a judge to prohibit a registered sex offender from accessing an Internet-based, social networking Web site when there is a potential of contacting a minor there.
Web sites such as MySpace, Zanga and others are considered “social networking” sites and, often, have thousands of users under the age of 18.
The measure also gives courts the ability to require a convicted sex offender to register any e-mail addresses and other Internet-related identification for communication.
“We’re going to curtail registered sex offenders from communication and grooming young children,” Wesselhoft said. “A sex offender’s entire goal is to have a meeting with the child; then when they met that child, a rape or homicide can occur.”
Should the offender violate the judge’s order, they would then be forced to return to court.
“They (offenders) would have to go back to the judge and explain their behavior,” Wesselhoft said. “And, often, when they violate a court order, the judge throws the book at them.”
While Wesselhoft acknowledged that judges already have the authority to prevent sex offenders from accessing the Internet, making that authority statutory, he said, was necessary.
“We have many judges who will look to the statutes — who are law and order judges,” he said. “By placing this on the books, it gives them another weapon they might not have considered.”
And next year, he said, he wants to make the law even tougher.
“Right now I’m working on similar legislation for next year,” he said. “I want to make it a felony for a registered sex offender to use the Internet to communicate with children.”
That action, he said, would decrease the number of sex crimes in the state and better protect Oklahoma children.
“It should be a felony for predators to use these social networking sites to lure kids,” he said.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Thursday, May 31, 2007
COMMENTARY: Twain's War Prayer
Having watched our country sink deeper and deeper into the abyss known as the Iraq War and having just attended the funeral of a bright, outgoing 21-year-old Marine I’ve searched long and hard to find the right words for this week’s column.
I was lost until I rediscovered this essay, penned many years ago by the sage of Missouri, Mark Twain.
It’s as fitting today as it was then.
The War Prayer
by Mark Twain
It was a time of great and exalting excitement.
The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and spluttering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading spread of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers and sisters and sweethearts cheering them with voices choked with happy emotion as they swung by; nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to patriot oratory which stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts, and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and country, and invoked the God of Battles beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpourings of fervid eloquence which moved every listener.
It was indeed a glad and gracious time, and the half dozen rash spirits that ventured to disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteousness straightway got such a stern and angry warning that for their personal safety’s sake they quickly shrank out of sight and offended no more in that way.
Sunday morning came — next day the battalions would leave for the front; the church was filled; the volunteers were there, their young faces alight with martial dreams — visions of the stern advance, the gathering momentum, the rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of the foe, the tumult, the enveloping smoke, the fierce pursuit, the surrender!
Then home from the war, bronzed heroes, welcomed, adored, submerged in golden seas of glory! With the volunteers sat their dear ones, proud, happy, and envied by the neighbors and friends who had no sons and brothers to send forth to the field of honor, there to win for the flag, or, failing, die the noblest of noble deaths.
The service proceeded; a war chapter from the Old Testament was read. The first prayer was said; it was followed by an organ burst that shook the building, and with one impulse the house rose, with glowing eyes and beating hearts, and poured out that tremendous invocation:
"God the all-terrible! Thou who ordainest! Thunder thy clarion and lightning thy sword!"
Then came the “long” prayer.
None could remember the like of it for passionate pleading and moving and beautiful language. The burden of its supplication was, that an ever-merciful and benignant Father of us all would watch over our noble young soldiers, and aid, comfort, and encourage them in their patriotic work; bless them, shield them in the day of battle and the hour of peril, bear them in His mighty hand, make them strong and confident, invincible in the bloody onset; help them to crush the foe, grant to them and to their flag and country imperishable honor and glory —
An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless step up the main aisle, his eyes fixed upon the minister, his long body clothed in a robe that reached to his feet, his head bare, his white hair descending in a frothy cataract to his shoulders, his seamy face unnaturally pale, pale even to ghastliness.
With all eyes following him and wondering, he made his silent way; without pausing, he ascended to the preacher’s side and stood there waiting.
With shut lids the preacher, unconscious of his presence, continued with his moving prayer, and at last finished it with the words, uttered in fervent appeal, “Bless our arms, grant us the victory, O Lord our God, Father and Protector of our land and flag!”
The stranger touched his arm, motioned him to step aside — which the startled minister did — and took his place. During some moments he surveyed the spellbound audience with solemn eyes, in which burned an uncanny light; then in a deep voice he said:
“I come from the Throne — bearing a message from Almighty God!” The words smote the house with a shock; if the stranger perceived it he gave no attention.
“He has heard the prayer of His servant your shepherd, and will grant it if such shall be your desire after I, His messenger, shall have explained to you its import — that is to say, its full import. For it is like unto many of the prayers of men, in that it asks for more than he who utters it is aware of — except he pause and think.
“God’s servant and yours has prayed his prayer. Has he paused and taken thought? Is it one prayer? No, it is two — one uttered, the other not. Both have reached the ear of Him Who heareth all supplications, the spoken and the unspoken.
Ponder this — keep it in mind. If you would beseech a blessing upon yourself, beware! Lest without intent you invoke a curse upon a neighbor at the same time. If you pray for the blessing of rain upon your crop which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse upon some neighbor’s crop which may not need rain and can be injured by it.
“You have heard your servant’s prayer — the uttered part of it. I am commissioned of God to put into words the other part of it — that part which the pastor — and also you in your hearts — fervently prayed silently.
And ignorantly and unthinkingly? God grant that it was so! You heard these words: ‘Grant us the victory, O Lord our God!’ That is sufficient, the ‘whole’ of the uttered prayer is compact into those pregnant words. Elaborations were not necessary. When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many unmentioned results which follow victory — must — follow it, cannot help but follow it.
Upon the listening spirit of God fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen!
“O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle — be Thou near them! With them — in spirit — we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it — for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet!
"We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen."
(After a pause.)
“Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits!”
It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.
I was lost until I rediscovered this essay, penned many years ago by the sage of Missouri, Mark Twain.
It’s as fitting today as it was then.
The War Prayer
by Mark Twain
It was a time of great and exalting excitement.
The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and spluttering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading spread of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers and sisters and sweethearts cheering them with voices choked with happy emotion as they swung by; nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to patriot oratory which stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts, and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and country, and invoked the God of Battles beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpourings of fervid eloquence which moved every listener.
It was indeed a glad and gracious time, and the half dozen rash spirits that ventured to disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteousness straightway got such a stern and angry warning that for their personal safety’s sake they quickly shrank out of sight and offended no more in that way.
Sunday morning came — next day the battalions would leave for the front; the church was filled; the volunteers were there, their young faces alight with martial dreams — visions of the stern advance, the gathering momentum, the rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of the foe, the tumult, the enveloping smoke, the fierce pursuit, the surrender!
Then home from the war, bronzed heroes, welcomed, adored, submerged in golden seas of glory! With the volunteers sat their dear ones, proud, happy, and envied by the neighbors and friends who had no sons and brothers to send forth to the field of honor, there to win for the flag, or, failing, die the noblest of noble deaths.
The service proceeded; a war chapter from the Old Testament was read. The first prayer was said; it was followed by an organ burst that shook the building, and with one impulse the house rose, with glowing eyes and beating hearts, and poured out that tremendous invocation:
"God the all-terrible! Thou who ordainest! Thunder thy clarion and lightning thy sword!"
Then came the “long” prayer.
None could remember the like of it for passionate pleading and moving and beautiful language. The burden of its supplication was, that an ever-merciful and benignant Father of us all would watch over our noble young soldiers, and aid, comfort, and encourage them in their patriotic work; bless them, shield them in the day of battle and the hour of peril, bear them in His mighty hand, make them strong and confident, invincible in the bloody onset; help them to crush the foe, grant to them and to their flag and country imperishable honor and glory —
An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless step up the main aisle, his eyes fixed upon the minister, his long body clothed in a robe that reached to his feet, his head bare, his white hair descending in a frothy cataract to his shoulders, his seamy face unnaturally pale, pale even to ghastliness.
With all eyes following him and wondering, he made his silent way; without pausing, he ascended to the preacher’s side and stood there waiting.
With shut lids the preacher, unconscious of his presence, continued with his moving prayer, and at last finished it with the words, uttered in fervent appeal, “Bless our arms, grant us the victory, O Lord our God, Father and Protector of our land and flag!”
The stranger touched his arm, motioned him to step aside — which the startled minister did — and took his place. During some moments he surveyed the spellbound audience with solemn eyes, in which burned an uncanny light; then in a deep voice he said:
“I come from the Throne — bearing a message from Almighty God!” The words smote the house with a shock; if the stranger perceived it he gave no attention.
“He has heard the prayer of His servant your shepherd, and will grant it if such shall be your desire after I, His messenger, shall have explained to you its import — that is to say, its full import. For it is like unto many of the prayers of men, in that it asks for more than he who utters it is aware of — except he pause and think.
“God’s servant and yours has prayed his prayer. Has he paused and taken thought? Is it one prayer? No, it is two — one uttered, the other not. Both have reached the ear of Him Who heareth all supplications, the spoken and the unspoken.
Ponder this — keep it in mind. If you would beseech a blessing upon yourself, beware! Lest without intent you invoke a curse upon a neighbor at the same time. If you pray for the blessing of rain upon your crop which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse upon some neighbor’s crop which may not need rain and can be injured by it.
“You have heard your servant’s prayer — the uttered part of it. I am commissioned of God to put into words the other part of it — that part which the pastor — and also you in your hearts — fervently prayed silently.
And ignorantly and unthinkingly? God grant that it was so! You heard these words: ‘Grant us the victory, O Lord our God!’ That is sufficient, the ‘whole’ of the uttered prayer is compact into those pregnant words. Elaborations were not necessary. When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many unmentioned results which follow victory — must — follow it, cannot help but follow it.
Upon the listening spirit of God fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen!
“O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle — be Thou near them! With them — in spirit — we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it — for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet!
"We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen."
(After a pause.)
“Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits!”
It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.
COMMENTARY: Go read Robin Meyers' latest book, you'll be glad you did
Oklahoma minister Dr. Robin Meyers is sure to make people mad with this book, Why the Christian Right is Wrong.
But somehow, I don’t think that will bother him.
Meyers, a progressive Oklahoma minister, lays out his issues and his criticisms of the Christian Right in his latest work — and it’s a tough, critical look.
Based on a speech given at a peace rally on the University of Oklahoma campus, Meyers books gives the reader an unvarnished, unapologetic critique of the “moral values” of the Christian right.
Written in a spunky, almost H.L. Menken style, Meyers isn’t big on hypocrisy.
He’s mad.
He’s passionate.
He’s indignant.
And he wants to make sure you understand exactly what he’s believes.
“Granted, thinking is hard work, and thinking about moral and ethical issues is particularly hard work,” he writes. “Although the phrase ‘situational ethics’ rolls off the tongue of the Christian Right with disdain, the fact is there is no other kind. Jesus proved this when he forgave the woman caught in adultery.”
Reading Meyers’ book, I’m amazed by his insight and his courage. And while I’m sure he’s received his share of hate mail for this work, I do believe he wrote something which needed to be said.
Each of us, on this journey from one plain to the other, are simply trying to get along.
But many would seek to make their issues and their beliefs the single repository for all human existence.
Thankfully, Meyers exposes this.
Just about 200 pages long, Why the Christian Right is Wrong is a book every student of Oklahoma — and for that matter, national — politics should have.
Believe me, it will make some furious.
But, hopefully, it will also make them think.
But somehow, I don’t think that will bother him.
Meyers, a progressive Oklahoma minister, lays out his issues and his criticisms of the Christian Right in his latest work — and it’s a tough, critical look.
Based on a speech given at a peace rally on the University of Oklahoma campus, Meyers books gives the reader an unvarnished, unapologetic critique of the “moral values” of the Christian right.
Written in a spunky, almost H.L. Menken style, Meyers isn’t big on hypocrisy.
He’s mad.
He’s passionate.
He’s indignant.
And he wants to make sure you understand exactly what he’s believes.
“Granted, thinking is hard work, and thinking about moral and ethical issues is particularly hard work,” he writes. “Although the phrase ‘situational ethics’ rolls off the tongue of the Christian Right with disdain, the fact is there is no other kind. Jesus proved this when he forgave the woman caught in adultery.”
Reading Meyers’ book, I’m amazed by his insight and his courage. And while I’m sure he’s received his share of hate mail for this work, I do believe he wrote something which needed to be said.
Each of us, on this journey from one plain to the other, are simply trying to get along.
But many would seek to make their issues and their beliefs the single repository for all human existence.
Thankfully, Meyers exposes this.
Just about 200 pages long, Why the Christian Right is Wrong is a book every student of Oklahoma — and for that matter, national — politics should have.
Believe me, it will make some furious.
But, hopefully, it will also make them think.
Oh, by the way...
While I'm very pleased with the response this little experiment has received, I felt I should clarify a couple of things. Here, you'll see stories of a political nature — they are pretty obvious. However, mixed in with them are opinion pieces I've written. Up until now I haven't listed them as "opinion" or "news."
But just to keep down the sniping, and to make sure that you all know when I'm expressing my opinion (I mean, Hell, it's my blog, I should be able to get on my soapbox once in a while) from now on I'll put the word "Commentary" in the headline.
Hopefully, that will explain the difference.
And thanks for reading.
But just to keep down the sniping, and to make sure that you all know when I'm expressing my opinion (I mean, Hell, it's my blog, I should be able to get on my soapbox once in a while) from now on I'll put the word "Commentary" in the headline.
Hopefully, that will explain the difference.
And thanks for reading.
Weather Center is "money well spent" Cole says
The University of Oklahoma’s $69 million state-of-the-art National Weather Center is an example of governmental “money well spent” Republican U.S. Congressman Tom Cole said Wednesday.
Cole — back in Oklahoma for the Memorial Day break — spent about two hours touring the weather center Wednesday afternoon.
And he had high praise for the facility.
“You know there’s a common myth that a lot of what we do in government is waste and it’s all terrible,” he said. “And there are certainly some things that, boy, if you have a $2.9 trillion budget, believe me there’s some waste in that, but you get things like this, too.”
A facility such as the OU weather center, he said, “would not happen only simple private capital, alone.”
“It’s the relationship back and forth,” he said, between the private sector and government.
Walking slowly from floor to floor around the five-story, 244,000-square foot building, Cole — along with several members of his staff — said the center represents a “synergy” between governmental entities.
“It’s world class,” he said. “You’re seeing tremendous synergy between the federal sector, the state sector, the private sector, and international cooperation. It’s extraordinary. It is a remarkable building; that’s what you want to see in Oklahoma.”
And that relationship, he said, benefits more than just the weather center.
“The possibilities are almost infinite,” he said. “Any time you are the leader in the world at something, you attract the best in the world. The applications are pretty extraordinary.”
Those applications could include global warming.
“Sadly, or soberingly, maybe is a better way to put it, if we really are in an era, and we are, of global warning this kind of ability, this kind of capability, is going to very important in minimizing loss and saving lives.”
The center’s commercial and humanitarian importance, he said, is “pretty phenomenal.”
On a more personal level, Cole — a native of Moore — said the center has particular meaning for him.
“With the tornados of ‘98, ‘99 and 2003 it has extraordinary meaning. My house came with 100 yards of one of those (tornados). You think of the lives that can be saved and the forecasting capability and the warnings.”
The center, he said, represents an investment that will be paid back “many, many fold.”
“We ought to build more of ‘em,” he said.
Cole — back in Oklahoma for the Memorial Day break — spent about two hours touring the weather center Wednesday afternoon.
And he had high praise for the facility.
“You know there’s a common myth that a lot of what we do in government is waste and it’s all terrible,” he said. “And there are certainly some things that, boy, if you have a $2.9 trillion budget, believe me there’s some waste in that, but you get things like this, too.”
A facility such as the OU weather center, he said, “would not happen only simple private capital, alone.”
“It’s the relationship back and forth,” he said, between the private sector and government.
Walking slowly from floor to floor around the five-story, 244,000-square foot building, Cole — along with several members of his staff — said the center represents a “synergy” between governmental entities.
“It’s world class,” he said. “You’re seeing tremendous synergy between the federal sector, the state sector, the private sector, and international cooperation. It’s extraordinary. It is a remarkable building; that’s what you want to see in Oklahoma.”
And that relationship, he said, benefits more than just the weather center.
“The possibilities are almost infinite,” he said. “Any time you are the leader in the world at something, you attract the best in the world. The applications are pretty extraordinary.”
Those applications could include global warming.
“Sadly, or soberingly, maybe is a better way to put it, if we really are in an era, and we are, of global warning this kind of ability, this kind of capability, is going to very important in minimizing loss and saving lives.”
The center’s commercial and humanitarian importance, he said, is “pretty phenomenal.”
On a more personal level, Cole — a native of Moore — said the center has particular meaning for him.
“With the tornados of ‘98, ‘99 and 2003 it has extraordinary meaning. My house came with 100 yards of one of those (tornados). You think of the lives that can be saved and the forecasting capability and the warnings.”
The center, he said, represents an investment that will be paid back “many, many fold.”
“We ought to build more of ‘em,” he said.
Okie businesses need a "better understanding" of insurance industry, state commissioner says
Oklahoma’s small businesses need to develop a better understanding of their insurance and how it can effect their business, the state’s insurance commissioner said recently.
Speaking in Norman, state insurance commissioner Kim Holland said most of the state’s small business owners don’t really understand their insurance or how it works.
“The number one complaint,” she said, “is a due to individuals not understanding their insurance. Whether it’s an individual or a business, it’s a flat lack of understanding that creates more problems for you and later for us.”
As consumers of insurance Holland said business owners should “have a solid understanding” of all types of their insurance, including:
• Workers compensation insurance
• Business property and liability insurance
• Commercial auto insurance
• Group health insurance
• Group disability insurance
• Group life insurance
• “Key” person life insurance
• Home based business insurance.
Additionally, she said, the biggest issue for businesses is the high cost of health insurance.
“The cost of health insurance is the number one issue for many,” she said. “It’s beyond the means of many of our small businesses.”
Because many of the state’s smaller businesses are “self sustaining” and are not making large profits, they are priced out of the health insurance market, she said.
“You have to make a lot of money to afford the yearly costs,” she said.
One way to help, she said, was with the state’s O-EPIC plan.
That plan — where the state helps pay a portion of the business owners’ insurance costs — applies to companies which employ 50 people or less and meet certain pay level requirements.
To qualify for the plan businesses:
• Must have fewer than 50 employees
• Be located in Oklahoma
• Offer an O-EPIC qualified health plan
• Contribute at least 25 percent of the premiums for eligible employees
• Complete the plan application.
“It’s a wonderful program,” she said “And it can help make the difference.”
Legislation to expand the program to include companies which employee 250 or less is currently awaiting Gov. Brad Henry’s signature.
A second issue, which Holland says is vital for the business community, is a better understanding of the insurance industry, the types of insurance and how it affects consumers.
“The goal is to educate small business owners and managers about the insurance industry and insurance issues,” she said.
That outreach has been a core part of Holland’s tenure as commissioner.
Since 2005, she’s hosted a statewide summit on the high cost of health insurance, a climate and loss mitigation conference, increased the department’s outreach efforts and launched an InsureU Web site to better explain the insurance industry.
Appointed in January 2005 by Gov. Henry as a replacement for former commissioner Carroll Fisher, who was forced out of office, Holland was elected to her first term as commissioner last year.
Speaking in Norman, state insurance commissioner Kim Holland said most of the state’s small business owners don’t really understand their insurance or how it works.
“The number one complaint,” she said, “is a due to individuals not understanding their insurance. Whether it’s an individual or a business, it’s a flat lack of understanding that creates more problems for you and later for us.”
As consumers of insurance Holland said business owners should “have a solid understanding” of all types of their insurance, including:
• Workers compensation insurance
• Business property and liability insurance
• Commercial auto insurance
• Group health insurance
• Group disability insurance
• Group life insurance
• “Key” person life insurance
• Home based business insurance.
Additionally, she said, the biggest issue for businesses is the high cost of health insurance.
“The cost of health insurance is the number one issue for many,” she said. “It’s beyond the means of many of our small businesses.”
Because many of the state’s smaller businesses are “self sustaining” and are not making large profits, they are priced out of the health insurance market, she said.
“You have to make a lot of money to afford the yearly costs,” she said.
One way to help, she said, was with the state’s O-EPIC plan.
That plan — where the state helps pay a portion of the business owners’ insurance costs — applies to companies which employ 50 people or less and meet certain pay level requirements.
To qualify for the plan businesses:
• Must have fewer than 50 employees
• Be located in Oklahoma
• Offer an O-EPIC qualified health plan
• Contribute at least 25 percent of the premiums for eligible employees
• Complete the plan application.
“It’s a wonderful program,” she said “And it can help make the difference.”
Legislation to expand the program to include companies which employee 250 or less is currently awaiting Gov. Brad Henry’s signature.
A second issue, which Holland says is vital for the business community, is a better understanding of the insurance industry, the types of insurance and how it affects consumers.
“The goal is to educate small business owners and managers about the insurance industry and insurance issues,” she said.
That outreach has been a core part of Holland’s tenure as commissioner.
Since 2005, she’s hosted a statewide summit on the high cost of health insurance, a climate and loss mitigation conference, increased the department’s outreach efforts and launched an InsureU Web site to better explain the insurance industry.
Appointed in January 2005 by Gov. Henry as a replacement for former commissioner Carroll Fisher, who was forced out of office, Holland was elected to her first term as commissioner last year.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Terrill, Nichols' jail billl "Dead" for session
OKLAHOMA CITY -- While it's not exactly dead, a state Senate bill which would have prevented a county detention center from being built along Franklin Road, is on legislative life support and won't become law this year.
Senate Bill 896 by state Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, and state Sen. Jonathan Nichols, R-Norman, would have stopped county commissioners in Cleveland County from building a new jail facility within two miles of an existing elementary school, secondary school or technology center.
The measure also included Oklahoma and Tulsa counties.
The bill would have prevented Cleveland County commissioners from building a new detention center on a 30-acre plot of land located on Franklin Road and, instead, would have forced them to either expand the county's current facility or build a new jail within one mile of the old one, in downtown Norman.
The measure -- which quickly became controversial -- entered the legislative version of limbo this week, when the Senate adjourned for the year, Thursday evening.
Because the bill was still on the Senate's calendar, it was "held over" for next legislative session, keeping it alive.
"There were concerns about whether there were the necessary votes (for the bill)," Nichols said. "But the vehicle did survive the session and there is plenty of time to improve it."
The drama surrounding the jail's location has been ongoing for several years.
Following reports of overcrowding and threats by state health officials to either fine the county or close the jail if the inmate population isn't reduced, commissioners began scouting for land to build a new facility.
In August 2006, Moore Mayor Glenn Lewis threatend to circulate a initiative petition to move the county seat to Moore, if county officials tried to locate the jail there.
"The majority of county voters live north of Indian Hills," Lewis said. "We shouldn't be forced to have the jail without the rest of county government. Believe me, I wouldn't have any trouble calling for a public vote to move the county seat."
The debate about the jail's location continued, then reached a climax last month.
On April 25 -- following reports that county officials would seek to purchase land on Franklin Road -- local residents lobbied commissioners and packed a special commission meeting to discuss the jail legislation and its proposed location. That same week, state Sen. John Sparks, D-Norman, issued a media statement calling for Terrill and Nichols to withdraw their bill.
"The practical result in our county would be counter-productive to the bill's authors' stated purpose," Sparks said in April. "The passage of this bill would also create an undue burden on the taxpayers."
Since then county officials -- including commissioners from Cleveland, Oklahoma and Tulsa counties -- have lobbied hard against the measure.
"I think it's pretty much dead for the session," said Cleveland County commissioner George Skinner.
Oklahoma County commissioner Ray Vaughan, a Republican, said he, too, had "concerns" about the bill. "I talked to Senator Jolly, our senator from Edmond about it," he said. "Because we're in the position of building an addition to the exsiting jail and considering the relocation of our juvenile justice center."
Vaughan said the bill would make it difficult for Oklahoma County officials to relocate those facilities. "It's going to be tough enough without those kind of restrictions," he said.
Oklahoma County commisioner Jim Roth said he, too, urged Oklahoma County legislators to stop the measure.
"There's a school in virtually every square mile in Oklahoma County," Roth said. "It (the bill) makes it very difficult to relocate a facility. I'm glad it's dead for now. I think it had good intentions, but bad implications for local taxpayers."
Still, even with the controversy, Nichols said he would continue to work on the issue.
"My number one concern is public safety," he said. "We've been working well with citizens and commissioners. The matter is still very much alive, and I continue to listen to all parties involved."
By holding the bill over for the next legislative session, Nichols said there is "opportunity and time" for the bill to be changed and improved.
"It's alive for input," he said. "It could be worked on next session."
Yet for Cleveland County commissioners, the problem of an ever-increasing inmate population and the need for a new detention facility remain.
"We still have to build a jail," Cleveland County commissioner George Skinner said. "Wherever we put the jail, it's going to go in someone's back yard. We've been looking for a jail site for three years. Our county is filling up and there's just not a place to put it."
Senate Bill 896 by state Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, and state Sen. Jonathan Nichols, R-Norman, would have stopped county commissioners in Cleveland County from building a new jail facility within two miles of an existing elementary school, secondary school or technology center.
The measure also included Oklahoma and Tulsa counties.
The bill would have prevented Cleveland County commissioners from building a new detention center on a 30-acre plot of land located on Franklin Road and, instead, would have forced them to either expand the county's current facility or build a new jail within one mile of the old one, in downtown Norman.
The measure -- which quickly became controversial -- entered the legislative version of limbo this week, when the Senate adjourned for the year, Thursday evening.
Because the bill was still on the Senate's calendar, it was "held over" for next legislative session, keeping it alive.
"There were concerns about whether there were the necessary votes (for the bill)," Nichols said. "But the vehicle did survive the session and there is plenty of time to improve it."
The drama surrounding the jail's location has been ongoing for several years.
Following reports of overcrowding and threats by state health officials to either fine the county or close the jail if the inmate population isn't reduced, commissioners began scouting for land to build a new facility.
In August 2006, Moore Mayor Glenn Lewis threatend to circulate a initiative petition to move the county seat to Moore, if county officials tried to locate the jail there.
"The majority of county voters live north of Indian Hills," Lewis said. "We shouldn't be forced to have the jail without the rest of county government. Believe me, I wouldn't have any trouble calling for a public vote to move the county seat."
The debate about the jail's location continued, then reached a climax last month.
On April 25 -- following reports that county officials would seek to purchase land on Franklin Road -- local residents lobbied commissioners and packed a special commission meeting to discuss the jail legislation and its proposed location. That same week, state Sen. John Sparks, D-Norman, issued a media statement calling for Terrill and Nichols to withdraw their bill.
"The practical result in our county would be counter-productive to the bill's authors' stated purpose," Sparks said in April. "The passage of this bill would also create an undue burden on the taxpayers."
Since then county officials -- including commissioners from Cleveland, Oklahoma and Tulsa counties -- have lobbied hard against the measure.
"I think it's pretty much dead for the session," said Cleveland County commissioner George Skinner.
Oklahoma County commissioner Ray Vaughan, a Republican, said he, too, had "concerns" about the bill. "I talked to Senator Jolly, our senator from Edmond about it," he said. "Because we're in the position of building an addition to the exsiting jail and considering the relocation of our juvenile justice center."
Vaughan said the bill would make it difficult for Oklahoma County officials to relocate those facilities. "It's going to be tough enough without those kind of restrictions," he said.
Oklahoma County commisioner Jim Roth said he, too, urged Oklahoma County legislators to stop the measure.
"There's a school in virtually every square mile in Oklahoma County," Roth said. "It (the bill) makes it very difficult to relocate a facility. I'm glad it's dead for now. I think it had good intentions, but bad implications for local taxpayers."
Still, even with the controversy, Nichols said he would continue to work on the issue.
"My number one concern is public safety," he said. "We've been working well with citizens and commissioners. The matter is still very much alive, and I continue to listen to all parties involved."
By holding the bill over for the next legislative session, Nichols said there is "opportunity and time" for the bill to be changed and improved.
"It's alive for input," he said. "It could be worked on next session."
Yet for Cleveland County commissioners, the problem of an ever-increasing inmate population and the need for a new detention facility remain.
"We still have to build a jail," Cleveland County commissioner George Skinner said. "Wherever we put the jail, it's going to go in someone's back yard. We've been looking for a jail site for three years. Our county is filling up and there's just not a place to put it."
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