Crediting students for work experience

It seems like just yesterday the governor was presenting his State of the State Address, but here we are in the sixth week of session. We started with 800 filed Senate bills, but by the committee deadline only around 400 were approved and sent on to the full Senate. So far, we’ve debated and passed nearly 175 of those on to the House. We now have until March 24 to get through the remaining Senate bills on our floor agenda.

Four of my bills were approved in committee, and I’m also co-authoring several House bills.  Every year, the Legislature renames numerous roads and bridges to memorialize Oklahoma’s heroes, and I’ve authored legislation honoring two incredible individuals from our district. SB 1580 will designate the bridge at the intersection of U.S. Highway 81 and State Highway 7 as the SSG Rodney Aaron Hagan Memorial Bridge. SSG Hagan joined the U.S. Army in 2006, serving 15 months in Iraq and a year in Korea. He passed away in October 2019 at the age of 32. His service to our country will never be forgotten.

SB 1575 will designate a section of I-44 near the State Highway 36 interchange as the William Mark Miller Memorial Highway. A life-long resident of Grandfield, Mark continued the Miller family legacy of farming and ranching in Tillman and Cotton Counties. His contribution to agriculture in our state was tremendous and worthy of this special honor in his memory.

My other two bills have already made it to the House. SB 1670 modifies the sales tax exemption granted to surviving spouses of veterans to include spouses of veterans who have died in the line of duty. Our hearts go out to these families, and we’ll forever be grateful for your loved ones’ service and sacrifice.

My SB 1667 will also help clear up some confusion for our disabled veterans and help county assessors save time and money. Veterans with a service-connected, permanent disability are exempt from paying property taxes in Oklahoma. This bill will allow county assessors to stop sending ad valorem tax notifications to disabled veterans. One of our local assessors requested this because they’re constantly getting calls and visits from concerned veterans not understanding why they received a notification.  It’s also a waste of time and resources for county assessors who are printing and mailing thousands of notifications. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, there are at least 16,000 100% disabled veterans in our state. Being able to save the time, paper, ink, and postage on those thousands of notifications will help our county assessors immensely.

We’ve had several special Capitol events and guests in recent weeks. On Higher Ed Day, I visited with Cameron University students and faculty and then on FFA Day, I met with numerous chapters from around our district. I’m especially excited to go to the Oklahoma Youth Expo this week. This is always such a highlight for me, being a former FFA member myself.

Earlier this month, I also attended the ground-breaking ceremony for the Red Plains Grand Butchery in Comanche. This is going to be an outstanding enterprise for southwestern Oklahoma. I also joined other southwest Oklahoma legislators for the annual legislative breakfast in Duncan where we discuss current education bills and answer questions teachers have about other measures. I want to thank the Legislative Advocacy Team of Duncan Educators, the Association of Duncan Educators and everyone who attended this informative event and for having us.

Two other recent events I went to were the Tri-County superintendent meeting and the Southwest Legislative Reception at the Oklahoma History Center. If you’re in Oklahoma City, please stop by and see your beautiful, newly renovated Capitol and drop by my office. I’d love to see you.  

Thank you again for the privilege of serving our district and the State of Oklahoma in the Senate. If I can be of any assistance, you can reach me at (405) 521-5563 or Chris.Kidd@oksenate.gov.