Say ahhhh: Oklahoma is receiving $43 million in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grants, with $8.35 million of it going to the Tulsa County Health Department.
The state health department is getting $23.6 million, and the Oklahoma County Health Department $11.15 million.
The grants are from a program for public health infrastructure.
“We are thrilled to receive this grant which will provide critical funding and flexibility to recruit, retain and train our workforce,” THD Executive Director Bruce Dart said in a press release. “This highlights the value and trust the CDC has placed in local health departments to know best what our community needs, and gives us the resources to elevate our ability to improve the quality of life for all Tulsa County residents.”
Don’t talk about that: State Sen. Cody Rogers, R-Tulsa, said he’ll file legislation to ban “inappropriate conversations” between students and school personnel regarding “mental, emotional or physical health or well-being.”
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“Children are in school to learn, not to be indoctrinated through inappropriate conversations that do not follow state standards,” Rogers said. “The health and safety of students is a top priority, and this bill ensures that parents, school staff and the student are all on the same page about what is best for the child’s well-being.”
Rogers said his bill will also prohibit “classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity” for young children.
Bye-bye, baby: The United States’ fertility rate — the number of live births per 1,000 women age 15 to 44 — dropped nearly 16% in the last decade, and Oklahoma’s declined by about the same, Pew reported.
Declines ranged from 31.1% in Arizona to 5.5% in Alabama, with North Dakota the only state to register an increase.
Policymakers keep a close eye on fertility rates and births because of the implications for both revenue and spending in coming years. Pew, for instance, projects almost 1% fewer Oklahoma public school students because of the fertility trend, and 4.4% fewer nationwide.
Only No. 11: CPAC, the conservative organization best-known for its annual conference in Virginia, released its list of 2021’s most conservative state legislatures — and no doubt to the surprise of many and chagrin of more than a few, Oklahoma didn’t make the top 10.
With a 68% conservative vote score, the Oklahoma Legislature came in 11th, just below West Virginia and Iowa. Alabama, at 74%, topped the list.
Like most such systems, CPAC’s relies on a series of test bills for which it determines the “correct” vote. Those determinations can be subjective.
For instance, CPAC generally counts voting for business incentives as “liberal,” although in Oklahoma Democrats are at least as likely to vote against them as Republicans. Votes for what is deemed “national security” are good, those for “federal overreach” are bad, although the two sometimes seem indistinguishable.
CPAC judged Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, its model conservative, while state Rep. Mauree Turner, D-Oklahoma City, was its liberal poster child.
Paging pages: The Oklahoma House of Representatives is taking applications from high school juniors and seniors for its page program. See okhouse.gov/Pages/Index.aspx for details.
Campaigns and elections: Former Tulsa mayoral candidate Greg Robinson was among a Tulsa-area contingent helping U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock win reelection in Georgia.
Former Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jackson Lahmeyer said he’s created a national organization called Pastors for Trump to support former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign.
Marissa Treat, wife of state Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, and a former staffer of U.S. Sen. James Lankford, is a candidate in the special election for Oklahoma County clerk.
Meetings and events: For the first time in many years, the Oklahoma Democratic Party state convention will be in Tulsa next year. The ODP said it will gather June 3-4 at the Cox Convention Center
Precinct elections, which begin the process of choosing delegates to the state convention, are scheduled for March 16.
Bottom line: State Rep. Jeff Boatman, R-Tulsa, and Rep. Scott Fetgatter, R-Okmulgee, were among five recipients of the Oklahoma State Chamber’s legislator of the year award.
— Randy Krehbiel, Tulsa World
PlaniTulsa is the latest group to get hit by a disturbing trend. Ginnie Graham and Bob Doucette talk about public meetings now needing security and more due to those seeking a stage to perform.
