by David Van Risseghem - Editor.
  So far, the best Democrat legislation I've seen, this session. Rep Collin Walke is calling for the implementation of the Mental Health Courts in all 77 Counties. Currently, this judicial option is only accessible for the district court judges in a small number of counties. It's part of the reason why so many nonviolent mentally ill people are still in the criminal court system and dying in our jails. This bill (HB2934) gives unstable people with a history of serious mental illness an option for probation which includes mandatory treatment via mental health professionals and available treatments. The vulnerable ill people can have some measure of regained justice, compassion, and restoration to productive life by our legislators seeing illness as what it is, and rescuing the ill person from the grasp of the acute condition.
  The courts have a duty to keep the communities safe, but this measure is only for those ill persons not charged with any violent crimes. Law enforcement & prosecutors repeatedly confirm to me that most often the seriously mentally ill are arrested on the pretext of some flimsy narrative. The truth is that the cop doesn't want to see a psychotic person left on the streets or in the homes of children. So cops try to make the jail become the mental hospital which the patient needs.
  I may be missing something in the weeds of this bill. And yes, the state does need to fund this money, because they've largely abandoned the mentally ill and left the counties to just lock them up.

 I'm very open to hearing any amendments to this bill. But it's time for the Republicans to join this Democrat from Oklahoma City who finally decided to show some leadership in the matter. 

  In a bold declaration, Rep David Hardin called federal efforts to curb constitutional rights a violation of the rights of the several states and the people.  HB2781 essentially says that the federal govt has forgotten their place and the limitations that the states have placed on the federal entity. 
  For citizens determined to retain their constitutional rights, this bill reads like a tent revival sermon.  It lays out a thesis for what limited role the federal entity is allowed, and then declares all other rights and responsibilities rest with the sovereign states, to govern their own domains within their own borders.

  What is even more compelling is the penalty that law enforcement and other government agencies will pay, for cooperating with federal overreaches of law. It further allows individuals to sue state & local entities for attorney fees associated with the defense of these rights.
  The law only pertains to otherwise law abiding conduct. Thus it becomes ineffective when the citizen is involved in committing a crime, separate from federal gun laws and regulations.

by David Van Risseghem - 
 Under Senator David Bullard's bill, not the employee donating the life-giving blood, but his boss; would get $20 per pint, from the state.  SB1113 was filed early, and will be considered in the February start of the 2020 session of the Oklahoma legislature.  This sets up an added pressure for employees to give regularly, and stipulates that the employee cannot receive any compensation for the blood. But the employers will monitor and report each employee's donation, when it was made, and to which blood distributor.
  Those employees who do not produce for the employer's benefit, will be apparent and it could be yet another endangerment to that employee's job security. This social coercion effectively punishes employees who refuse, or are unable to donate blood. Some employees may have diseases or any of several health issues that make their blood unsafe for others. Other employees may have philosophical & religious objections to sharing blood with distributors.  We already see the social pressures put on individuals who object to forced drug injections in the name of vaccinating against dozens of diseases.

​Dahm & Moore Set The high marks for the two houses of the Oklahoma Legislature. 
  In our inaugural publication of legislative commitment to preserving & advancing individual freedom in Oklahoma, This year's 57th Oklahoma Legislature celebrates a very robust year of commitment to constitutional rights.
  We look at hundreds of bills to find a good sampling of floor votes which represent a broad spectrum of freedoms and we evaluate how each lawlaker weighed & cast their votes. We also looked at how leaders of committees conducted themselves and the vast power they hold.
  We added bonus points for legislators who took the time to draft and promote bills which are essential to protecting & advancing constitutional liberty.
What is the Freedom Index? 
  The Freedom Index seeks to identify how diligent a lawmaker is, to protecting individual freedom for the people of Oklahoma. We gathered a set of various bills which indicate many forms of freedom. Free Speech, Self Defense, Free Association, Vocational Freedom Economic Freedom, Parental authority, Healthcare access and options. Travel and Privacy.

Several bills were somewhat rewritten by joint conference committees and put up for final votes at the state capitol, in the past 24 hours.
  Fetgatter called HB2601 "the cleanup bill", so it may be the last cannabis legislation of the year?

  After the political world was rocked by the legalization of marijuana for medical use. In the 11 months since it's passage, there has been a rapid rollout and several agency attempts to derail it. But the program has far exceeded the projections of the govt. agency tasked with administering it (OMMA).
  One of the prominent advocates at the capitol and around the state has been a pain management patient named Chis Moe. Sooner Politics editor in chief, David Van Risseghem sat down with Chris Moe (aka Uncle Grumpy) to discuss matters of drug policy reform.

  Rep. Jon Echols prevailed upon the legislature to fix a terrible problem that the 2018 legislature created for chronic pain sufferers.  The Attorney General's effort to crack down on opioid abuse through tough criminal enforcement has led to terrible suffering made worse for the most vulnerable among us.
​  His legislation SB848, specifically rolls back the requirement that long-term chronic pain sufferers seek a new prescription every 30 days. It will now require a prescription every 180 days, when this becomes new law.
  In Echols' floor speech, he explains that the opioide dangers lay primarily with new patients who's recent injury prescription turns into a long term habit.
  Echols referenced his many letters from chronic pain sufferers who describe terrible difficulty in arranging and attending monthly appointments, since they are often homebound and their mobility is very difficult to accommodate.
  The opioide law forbids the use of telemed appointments, refillable prescriptions, and other obstacles.

The Oklahoma lawmakers have largely taken a path of deference to the voters, in this first legislative session after the voters changed our laws on marijuana and hemp.
  Last summer there was urgency and even panic about whether the implementation could happen without more legislative action. In the end, the lawmakers decided that the path of lesser regulation could prevail until the February scheduled date of the 57th Legislature. 
  But the Interim Study, led by Rep. Jon Echols & Sen. Greg McCortney, were at work with advocates and industry experts, to polish up a framework of needed structure so that the Health Dept could put product safety mandates into effect. HB2612 was signed into law by Gov. Kevin Stitt before spring break. It was referred to "the unity bill" because various private sector interests wrote most of it after resolving differences among themselves. The Unity Bill was the most important legislation because it replaces temporary 'emergency rules' which sunset later this summer.

  The House gave final passage to a bill which corrects the policy of the State Health Dept on Medical Marijuana Recommendations. It now awaits the signature of the Governor. An emergency clause is included, which will make the policy effective immediately upon signage.  On Wednesday, the House accepted all senate amendments of HB2613 and sent the bill to the governor. Coupled with SB162, which the governor signed on Tuesday, these changes mean greater continuity of care under a patient's current healthcare team.
  What this will mean for patients is the ability to remain under the care of your own state-licensed physician and be able to implement treatment with cannabis medicines once your own physician's recommendation is certified by the Health Dept.
  SQ788, which the voters passed last summer, was written with the intent of allowing any physician licensed to treat people in Oklahoma and certified by an Oklahoma board  (Medical Doctor, Osteopathic Doctor, or Podiatrist) could begin recommending cannabis at their discretion. But the Board of Health decided to interpret the language far more restrictively and  pretend that the language refers to being a "Board Certified Specialist" by an industry specialist board, rather than a state govt. board.