Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Open Door Policy - Feb. 26th, 2008

I hope you received my survey and legislative update in the mail this week. The House of Representatives allows us to send out two of these mailings each year to our constituents and I wanted to take the chance to update you on my bills that will be considered and also give you a bit more information about happenings at the State Capitol than room will provide in this column. If you did not receive a copy, the State Election Board has your address incorrect and you will need to re-register at the post office, tag agent or local school and they will get it fixed. The mailing addresses have experienced problems due to changes to the E-911 system.

I had the chance to visit with the Chickasha High School Young Democrats last week and feed them lunch. It's great to see our younger citizens taking part in the political process and learning about our government. We need to do what we can to encourage people to vote and be aware of the issues so they can help change the government to reflect the idealism that many feel has been lost due to scandal and corruption.

On Tuesday, we took up House Bill 3122, which increases the school year hours of instruction by roughly three days. I voted against this legislation but it still passed the House. I do not feel it is right to add on extra hours or days and create an unfunded mandate on our schools. I also do not feel we are maximizing the current time required by students to be in the classroom. There are many other ways to improve student learning rather than simply requiring more time in the classroom.

We have also had many visitors up to the Capitol. I had the great pleasure of seeing FFA groups from Elgin, Fletcher and Cement visit the Capitol. I also was able to see friends from Farm Bureau and the Conservation Districts at their annual dinners this past week. Higher Education Day is this week, so I know I will have friends from Cameron and USAO, as well as students from the district attending other schools drop by my office. It's great to see people from back home stop by and visit.

It is an honor to represent your views at the State Capitol. If you wish to contact me and discuss one of these or another issue, I can be reached at my office in Oklahoma City toll-free at 1-800-522-8502, or directly at 1-405-557-7305. My home number for work is 1-580-476-2626. My e-mail address is joedorman@okhouse.gov at work. My mailing address is PO Box 559, Rush Springs, OK 73082 and my website is www.joedorman.com on the Internet. Thank you for taking time to read this column and I look forward to seeing you soon.

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