Preparing for the next session

While the regular legislative session finishes at the end of May, our work continues as we prepare for the next session. Given the hundreds of bills we have to consider and vote on, along with the state budget, during the four-month session, with rare exceptions, we simply don’t have enough time to do in-depth research into particular issues until after we adjourn. This is why we have interim studies, which are public hearings to bring in experts from government agencies, the business community, and the nonprofit sector, along with private citizens to get their input on specific issues and policies.
Four of my interim studies were approved, and now I’m waiting to see if the chairmen of the committees they were assigned to will agree to hear them, and if so when. Two would go before the Health and Human Services Committee to look at applying ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) screening results to assist in preventative treatment and researching substance abuse treatment options for youth. The Business and Commerce Committee would examine childcare center regulation and access.

The study I’m most passionate about is how we can make Oklahoma a Top Ten state for women. I have taken issue with a recent WalletHub study ranking the Sooner State as the worst state for women to live in. With my parents and me being born and raised here, I strongly disagree with this assessment, but do recognize there are areas that need improvement. I’m not sure how they did their calculations, but Oklahoma was not among the bottom five states for seven of the graded factors, including lowest median earnings adjusted for cost of living; highest unemployment rate; percentage of women in poverty; percentage of women-owned businesses; lowest high school graduation rate; lowest life expectancy at birth; or highest female homicide rate. However, Oklahoma did rank in the bottom five for percentage of women who voted in the 2020 presidential election, which has nothing to do with quality of life, and highest uninsured rate—another personal choice as all low-income citizens have access to federal healthcare and Oklahoma has expanded Medicaid to some 200,000 additional people.

I also question the study’s objectivity as it appears to be left slanting and tracked which states were blue or red, and found that blue states are better for women. Oklahoma is one of the most conservative states in the nation and our laws and way of life reflect the conservative values of the majority. For this reason, I feel they have intentionally put more emphasis on minor factors like voting percentages rather than actual social-economic issues. Therefore, I want to conduct my own study, so we can hear from experts at our state agencies, business community and nonprofits to get the real statistics and find real solutions. We’ll be looking at healthcare access and outcomes, employment opportunities, income levels, crime rates, poverty levels, birth rates, and more.

If you care about women’s issues, I hope you’ll join me in this important discussion as we try to find policy solutions that will improve the lives of all Oklahoma women. Once these studies are approved by the committee chairmen, the schedules will be posted at https://oksenate.gov/publications/senate-interim-studies. You’ll also be able to watch them live on our website. Please let me know if you’re interested in participating in any of these studies.

You can reach me at Jessica.Garvin@oksenate.gov or (405) 521-5522.