The Okmulgee Chamber of Commerce held the first Legislative Forum of the year last Friday. Senator Roger Thompson and Rep. Scott Fetgatter was on hand to give a preview of the upcoming state legislative session. Rep. Logan Phillips was not present at the forum.

Chamber Executive Director Kay Rabbitt-Brower welcomed those in attendance and Ambassador Jim Martin served as facilitator of the forum.

In his opening remarks, Senator Thompson shared with citizens an Oklahoma financial overview and disbursements from the past year.

The senator is serving as the chair of the Appropriations Committee.

The State Board of Equalization certified an estimated $612 million in new funding for the upcoming budget year.

However, Thompson stated the number will probably change soon.

At the current gas prices, he estimates there would be a loss of about $62 million from the fund. He anticipated new funding would be about $500 million.

Last year, Oklahoma lost funding for the teaching hospital in Tulsa. Thompson said the state owes about $31 million to the federal government.

An issue due consideration this session is Hepatis C inside the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.

“Right now we have about 3,107 inmates that have been diagnosed with Hepatitis C,” Thompson said. “Last year, we treated 34 inmates at a cost of $838,000. So we’re concerned about that for a number of reasons and we need to make sure we take care of those.”

Thompson noted the ACLU had a lawsuit against the State of Colorado for not treating Hepatitis C within their prison system, which the state lost. Over the next two years, Colorado will have to pay about $42,000,000 for their failure at treatment.

“If we treated all 3,107 that are incarcerated, the price tag would be $90,000,000,” Thompson said. “We are not going to do that. We may look at the top tiers. Those that are the most dangerous in their health, and begin to look at those.”

Other bills likely to get consideration include one that says if a person works for the city manager, they cannot serve on the city council; a zoning bill affecting Okmulgee County.

Thompson said several entities are involved in working on the legislation, which may not be heard this year, but possibly next session.

Rep. Fetgatter will be working alongside Sen. Thompson in finance and appropriations this session. He has been appointed Finance Chair for the Oklahoma House.

“During the campaign, probably the number one thing I heard about is ‘what are we going to do about healthcare in our rural communities,” Fetgatter said, “so I think that is going to be on the top of our list.”

More funding for education, criminal justice reform and jobs will also be a priority this session for legislators.

Thompson and Fetgatter answered several questions asked by those in attendance:

•Is there anything since SQ 788 (Marijuana) passed that would address those already incarcerated?

“The Court of Criminal Appeals basically said you can’t go backwards,” Thompson said. “In the midst of the legislation was that an individual was arrested and charged with a felony and by the time he went to trial, it’s now a misdemeanor. The law says that you are ‘charged with.’”

Thompson said there is a possibility for a bill this year to add to SQ 788, but he thinks there will be challenges to the issue.

There is a working group taking up the issue to move individuals through the system quicker, instead of trying to go back and change the law.

There are bills filed to address numerous issues, Thompson said.

Fetgatter said there will be some legislation concerning municipalities, but citizens will see some changes, but no drastic changes will be made.

•Since the Vision Fund did not pass, is there anything that can be done or is being done to bring the issue back to the table?

Rep. Fetgatter stated one legislator is tweaking a new bill in the House to bring it back up as a piece of legislation.

Senator Thompson stated the committee would probably not hear a bill.

“We need to make sure we are really stable in our money that is going out,” Thompson said. “We will address that again in 2020. Keep in mind over the last few years out of the recession, we have cut every agency from like 25 to 40 percent and we’ve got to be able to get those back up before we start saving.”

•Governor-elect Kevin Stitt announced the appointment of Sean Kouplen as the next Secretary of Commerce and Workforce Development, and Brent Kisling as the next executive director of the Department of Commerce - Thoughts or updates?

Thompson said Kouplen would have to be confirmed by the Oklahoma Senate.

“I don’t know either one of them very well,” Thompson said, “I know Sean better than I know Brett…I thought Debbie Snodgrass had done an outstanding job and Dick Dutton had done an outstanding job, making change simply to say that we want to make a change and move forward… I would rather have seen the new administration coming in an say ‘Okay, let’s find people who are working and find people that are not working and make that change.’ That being said, no one called and asked for my advice.

“They will be asking for our advice and consent whenever it comes,” he said, “And I will be very much involved that as a Secretary of Commerce, can he do that job and still remain CEO of the bank. Right now… we need jobs, we need somebody that is really focused on that. We have had a Secretary of Commerce that has simply focused on that, and brought several billion dollars of new industry to Oklahoma for the past four years.”

Thompson stated his questions would be on the time given to the job, the focus of the job and direction he hopes to go.

Fetgatter said he didn’t know Kouplen very well, but knows his father.

“Brent Kisling, on the hand, I know very well,” he said. “Brent and I have worked for the past two years on economic development issues. I’ve leaned on Brent extensively to try to understand his job and what it is that makes an economic development director successful in a rural area. He’s very aggressive and I think he is a good hire.

“With that being said,” Fetgatter said, “I have a very close relationship with Secretary Snodgrass and hate to see that move being made. But again, like him, I did not get a phone call. But I did express my opinion, unsolicited.”

•How is the federal government shutdown affecting Oklahoma going forward?

Thompson noted the senior services and agencies like Deep Fork are especially affected by the shutdown, and with constituents not able to contact Washington, his office is fielding calls.

Fetgatter added he hopes the shutdown will end pretty quick.

An issue Okmulgee is dealing with and Thompson is working on is restricted allotment land on which several local businesses sits on, including Cox Cash Savers, Sherwin Williams and Family Dollar.

“Keep in mind the Stigler Act that Congress passed…. will have major impact on communities in Okmulgee,” Thompson said.

He has met with owners of Cox Cash Savers recently.

“In Oklahoma, you have one sales tax permit and different locations,” Thompson said. “So right now, the Muscogee Creeks are collecting six cents a dollar from them and the state is collecting the Okmulgee tax rate of 1.083. So they are actually having to pay 16 cents on the dollar sales tax.

“Right now we are somewhat at an impasse,” he said. “We have the attorney general involved in that discussion. Secretary Binge of Native American Affairs sat down with Cox Saver and we met in Tulsa a while back to resolve that situation. It has not been resolved. Keep in mind there are 50 jobs that are here in Okmulgee at the grocery store.

“If Cox Saver does not pay the state tax, they can have their sales tax permit pulled which shuts down all nine of their stores,” Thompson said. “They can actually spin that store off into another LLC and then decide to fight this thing any way they want to fight it.”

Thompson noted the resolution of the Murphy case along with other factors play a role in whatever decision is made concerning the allotment land.

“We are at an impasse,” Thompson said. “I do know that whatever way it goes, it will have a direct effect here in Okmulgee.”

Both legislators were eager to get back to work with hopes of accomplishing many things during the upcoming session.

The next Chamber Legislative Forum will be held Feb. 1 at 8 a.m. at the Mabrey Meeting Room.