Shots, education top lunch issues

Issues ranging from a presidential mandate on COVID-19 vaccinations to education in Oklahoma topped a recent legislative luncheon in Pauls Valley.

With PV’s chamber of commerce again hosting the annual gathering, a couple of state legislators with districts that include parts of Garvin County came to briefly address a number of issues during the Sept. 16 lunch.

It was second-term state Rep. Cynthia Roe, R-Lindsay, and freshman state Sen. Jessica Garvin, R-Duncan, who stepped to the podium to speak to the dozens gathered at the local Reynolds Recreation Center.

Both made it clear they oppose the recent mandate from President Biden on vaccinations being required for private sector companies with 100 or more employees, along with health care workers and federal contractors.

Their main focus was on health care and the mandates as Roe is a longtime nurse practitioner in Pauls Valley and Garvin is a nursing home and assisted living administrator.

“I believe President Biden’s policy of mandating vaccinations is completely unconstitutional, an overreach,” Garvin said.

“As a private business owner I will not mandate vaccinations. We should not put more red tape on business owners.”

The two legislators also oppose the possibility of federal funds being withheld from hospitals or nursing homes that don’t comply with the mandate to have all employees vaccinated.

“I truly believe this will take care of itself,” Garvin adds. “These hospitals can’t afford to lose any more staff.”

Along with her opposition Roe also doesn’t believe there’s enough support at the state Capitol to hold a special session on this issue.

“We don’t have the support in either chamber to get a special session on this,” Roe said.

“I can’t support a special session right now.”

Garvin also focused some time on education as she expressed support for both public schools and the parents choice to where their children get those classroom lessons.

“As a body we made the largest investment in public education in history,” Garvin said about the most recent legislative session.

When asked about what’s being done to help Oklahoma improve on its 47th ranking in education, the first-year senator said the funding process must be changed and childhood trauma must first be addressed before things can get better.

“We can’t continue to throw money at problems and expect them to get better,” she said.

“The way we were funding schools was completely misguided. We need to change the funding formula where the money more closely follows the kid; get the public money to where the child is being educated.

“We’ve got to meet the kids in the middle and focus on their skills and talent.”

She said an open transfer bill passed into law should help the funding follow the student.

Even with this type of change Garvin says the money won’t matter unless mental health issues for kids are addressed.

In fact, she said these issues are the “core root” of the education problems in education.

“Until we address the mental health issues our kids are not going to get an education in Oklahoma.”

Although she supports public education, especially since 99 percent of her district is public schools, Garvin said parents should have the right to choose public schools, private schools, charter schools or homeschooling.

“I’m 100 percent pro-parent choice. Parents have the right to choose where their kids go to schools.”

As for her first year in office Garvin said it was at times “like drinking from a firehose” and a little overwhelming.

Still she “ran 23 bills” through the process with 19 of them signed into law. That included an early parole on medical reasons for nonviolent prison inmates and one allowing for spousal rape to be criminally prosecuted.

“The next thing is maybe the most notable thing I’ll ever get to do in my professional career,” Garvin said.

She was referring to a bill that reverses the position the state of Oklahoma didn’t have the legal right to take Native American child out of abusive environments and placed into new homes.

“It saved potentially 2,800 children from being placed back into homes that were dangerous.”

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Roe spent some of her time on the medical marijuana issue, especially out-of-state investors coming in to buy land for grow operations.

“We looked at foreign investors coming in and buying land in Oklahoma,” Roe said.

“We passed a bill that said if Oklahomans can’t buy land in your country then you can’t buy land in Oklahoma.”

She was quick to add that bill passed through the state House but then seemed to go away.

“I want to give much kudos to the Garvin County Sheriff’s Office for the work they’ve been doing. These guys have been rock stars in taking down the bad guys,” she said, referring specifically to helping to find and bust illegal grow sites.

Roe also gave credit to Maysville police for finding a number of trucks containing illegal marijuana plants.

A related interim study now ongoing is looking at medical marijuana for pediatric patients.

“What we have to do is legislate around what was in the original petition. We do not have the qualifying conditions to get a medical marijuana card, so we have to legislate around that.”

Roe finished up by adding the process to redistrict the state should soon be finalized.

“We’re losing rural seats to the metro,” she said. “I’ll probably lose more of Garvin County than I would like.”