Archive for the ‘Health & Human Services’ Category

Here’s a video from Friday’s 5:30 broadcast discussing Oklahoma’s legislative response to federal healthcare takeover efforts.

News9.com Coverage

This marked the end of the first full week of floor activity in the Oklahoma Senate. By the end of this week, I was privileged enough to pass seven bills over to the House of Representatives. Although a couple of them were statutory clean-up bills to bring our laws up to date, I was very glad to be able to forward a couple of important bills to the House for consideration.

One of the bills I was able to pass was to help provide immunity for Good Samaritans who assist someone in need of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED). The advances in the AED manufacture and technology now make the usage almost foolproof. When someone uses one of these devices to help save someone’s life, they shouldn’t be placed at risk of a lawsuit if the person doesn’t survive despite the intervention by the Samaritan. The bill passed unanimously. You can read a copy of the bill here.

Senate Bill 794 was prompted by my visit to Peppers Ranch – a residential boy’s community north of Edmond and west of Guthrie. Some of the young boys there had been adopted by a couple only to have the couple terminate the adoption after the process had been completed. These “unsuccessful adoptions” are not currently tracked by the Department of Human Services. Oftentimes, the children are entered into the system anew because their last name had changed. The horrors of being rejected by an adoptive family are unthinkable and we should do everything we can to make sure we are learning as much possible to prevent placements which are later a failure. You can read a copy of this bill here.

Another bill, Senate Bill 1134, will allow for military personnel to be exempt from jury service during a time of war or declared hostilities. This bill, interesting enough, was prompted because my opponent brought the issue to my attention during the last campaign. His daughter had been sent overseas to serve our country and while she was in the final weeks of training in the United States before shipping out, she was called to serve on a jury. Our men and women in uniform are doing enough public service by spending their time to train to protect their own lives and those of their squadron. A copy of the bill is available here.

In the next couple of weeks, I hope to bring several bills before the Senate, including Senate Bill 1111 – the Education Accountability Reform Act and Senate Bill 1126 – which should help our child support recipients from deadbeat parents who abuse the system by paying a pittance of their total liability in order to buy some additional time to pay without penalty.

If you are ever in need of anything from my office, please let me know. You can follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/clarkjolley or online at www.clarkjolley.com.

The Fifty-second Oklahoma Legislature had its organizational day today, with members of the Senate meeting pursuant to the Oklahoma Constitution.  As part of the day’s activities, the Senate elected Senator Glenn Coffee (R-Oklahoma City) as the first Republican President Pro Tempore and adopted the rules for the upcoming two years.  Additionally, the Senate formally adopted the Committee assignments made earlier by President Coffee.

Senator Clark Jolley (R-Edmond) was named as the Chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services committee, the first Republican to chair the important committee overseeing the state’s Department of Health, Department of Human Services and other health-related agencies.  With healthcare being at the forefront of people’s concerns about their personal futures, Jolley embraces the challenge of working for better health delivery.

“Oklahomans have been lagging the nation in our health outcomes.  We eat too much, smoke too much and don’t exercise as much as we need to to avoid the plagues of obesity, diabetes, cancer and shortened life expectancy,” said Jolley.  ”While we can’t legislate what people are going to do on their own, we can try to encourage more healthy behavior and promote better education of what it takes to be a healthier state.”

Additionally, it was officially announced that Jolley would be serving the Senate as an Assistant Majority Floor Leader along with Senators Brian Bingman (R-Sapulpa) and Mike Mazzei (R-Tulsa).  Having previously served the past two years as one of the Republican Whips, Jolley was elected by his colleagues to serve in the first Republican majority leadership team in November.

In addition to his duties as Chairman of Health & Human Services, Jolley will also continue his leadership in education as the Vice Chairman of the Education Committee.  He will also serve on the Finance Committee, which oversees tax policy in Oklahoma, and the Appropriations Subcommittee on Education, of which Jolley previously had served as Co-Chairman during the 51st Legislature.

The 52nd Legislature will reconvene on February 2, 2009.