Devona Walker, of NewsOK.com is reporting today:

The federal government has increased fines for hiring illegal immigrants by as much as $5,000, effective today, as part of an effort to ramp up worksite immigration enforcement, but some say the nominal increase isn’t likely to change how some companies do business.

NewsOK is quoting Muzaffar Chisti, director of the Migration Policy Institute’s New York office at New York University, who is skeptical that this change will make a big difference:

It’s not clear to me that this will put a huge dent in the practice of hiring illegal workers. This will be nothing more than the cost of doing business. It will not be a determining factor. But if they start imposing criminal fees and employers start getting jail terms then you will see a dent.

Larger companies, as a rule, have more choices in picking employees than smaller companies. If the employers start going to prison, they will eventually say, ‘It’s not worth it, let’s just pay a dollar or two more to get U.S. workers.’

People have good reason to be skeptical that this is nothing more than symbolic language to make it appear as if they are getting serious on (illegal) immigration.

Toughly-written legislation in Oklahoma, such as HB 1804, has not produced the illegal immigration mass-exodus “shock and awe” that some had expected. It is unclear whether the new legislation at the federal level will have an impact, either.

Legislation to strengthen penalties for assaulting a pregnant woman has cleared its first hurdle in the State Senate. Sen. Debbe Leftwich (D-OKC), who is Senate author of House Bill 1897 approved Wednesday by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety and Judiciary, said:

Domestic violence is the number one cause of death for pregnant women. Oklahoma needs to do more to address such violence before it results in the death of a woman and her baby.

Leftwich said recent headlines underscored that grim statistic. Eric Kennedy Phan is awaiting trial in the murder of 20-year-old Lauren Barnes and her unborn baby. Last November, Phan talked Barnes into meeting her at a Bethany Park after she had told his girlfriend he was the father of her unborn child.

Lauren had told her little sister she was scared he would ‘blow up.’ The last her sister ever heard from her was a text message that said ‘Oh God, I think he just pulled up.’ Lauren’s body was found a week later in a shallow grave.

The measure, authored by Rep. Rebecca Hamilton (D-OKC)in the House, would allow felony charges to be filed against a person who assaults a woman and causes her to miscarry. Under the legislation known as the “Scum of the Earth Bill,” a person convicted of beating a woman the attacker knew was pregnant could be charged with a misdemeanor and face up to one year in jail. A person convicted of a second or subsequent offense would be guilty of a felony and face up to ten years in prison. If the attack resulted in a miscarriage or injury to the unborn child, it would be a felony with a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Leftwich added:

More than 3,000 pregnant women in our state are attacked every single year—usually by the father of the baby. While state law does allow us to file double murder charges for killing a pregnant woman and her unborn child, we ought to be doing more to get that abuser behind bars before it gets to that point.

House Bill 1897 now moves to the full Senate Appropriations Committee for consideration.

Listen to the mp3 here

By Senator Jay Paul Gumm, D-Durant

Hello again, everybody! The word “bipartisan” often is tossed around in politics to suggest if something has bipartisan support, then it is a good thing.

That is not necessarily the case. A perfect example of a bill with bipartisan support that I believe is bad policy was one relating to education that passed the Senate and was sent to the House of Representatives a couple of weeks ago.

The argument used by supporters of this voucher scheme is that these public schools are so irreparably broken that we have to provide an escape route for a lucky few. For us, however, to abandon the rest of the kids in such a school is social Darwinism at its most perverse. Only the strong – or lucky – will survive under this scheme.

This is the easy answer; this bill encourages the “cherry picking” of a few kids, lifting them out of a poor school, and leaving behind hundreds of others. The harder mission – and the far nobler one – is to improve the school for every kid. It is not beyond our ability to do so; it just will be more difficult.

Nevertheless, the mission of public education is a difficult one. Unlike private schools, public schools have a responsibility to educate every child. Every Oklahoman – even those families who put their children in private schools or philanthropists who give to a voucher scheme like this one – benefits because we offer a free public education to every child. Read more…

By Senator Jay Paul Gumm, D-Durant

Hello again, everybody! The word “bipartisan” often is tossed around in politics to suggest if something has bipartisan support, then it is a good thing.

That is not necessarily the case. A perfect example of a bill with bipartisan support that I believe is bad policy was one relating to education that passed the Senate and was sent to the House of Representatives a couple of weeks ago.

Euphemistically called the “New Hope Scholarship Program,” the measure would give a 50 percent tax credit to individuals who donate to a fund providing private school scholarships. For students to qualify, they would have to be in low performing, urban public school districts. This tax credit would be on top of any charitable tax deduction donors would get.

Ironically, the program is based on a scholarship program started by philanthropists in San Antonio to help kids in a challenged district there. The key difference is that these philanthropists got no additional tax credit for their good will.

The Oklahoma bill creates a voucher system that would take public dollars and transfer them through the use of the tax credits to private schools. That means those kids who, for whatever reason, cannot escape the poor public school are left behind in a school with fewer resources.

The argument used by supporters of this voucher scheme is that these public schools are so irreparably broken that we have to provide an escape route for a lucky few. For us, however, to abandon the rest of the kids in such a school is social Darwinism at its most perverse. Only the strong – or lucky – will survive under this scheme.

This is the easy answer; this bill encourages the “cherry picking” of a few kids, lifting them out of a poor school, and leaving behind hundreds of others. The harder mission – and the far nobler one – is to improve the school for every kid. It is not beyond our ability to do so; it just will be more difficult.

Nevertheless, the mission of public education is a difficult one. Unlike private schools, public schools have a responsibility to educate every child. Every Oklahoman – even those families who put their children in private schools or philanthropists who give to a voucher scheme like this one – benefits because we offer a free public education to every child.

It is my strongly held belief that America owes its position as the world’s last remaining superpower to the fact every child – regardless of the wealth of his or her parents – can get a public education. Giving every child a chance to become everything God intends for him or her to become creates opportunity for all of us.

With the “New Hope Scholarship Program,” we have said, “We give up; we cannot give every kid a chance.” I believe that is the dead wrong message for us to send.

Thanks again for reading the “Senate Minute,” have a great week and may God bless you all.

STEM: The push to to improve Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, has published its annual technology study, and given Oklahoma a “C” for classroom access to technology, an “A-” for use of technology, and a “B-” for capacity to use technology, for an overall grade of “B-”.

From the report:

The nation earns a grade of [”C+”] for leadership in technology policy and practice, based on an analysis of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. West Virginia earns the only [”A”], while Georgia and South Dakota receive [”A-”] marks.

Most states demonstrated relatively uneven performance across the areas of access, use, and capacity.

Sally Kern, who has recently received international attention and harrassment for making negative comments about gay activism, faces off with openly gay Pastor Scott Jones of OKC’s Cathedral of Hope on Easter Morning on Flashpoint.

In this video, Sally Kern defends her statements made in the Oklahoma legislature, and points out that the recent rumors online that she has a gay son are untrue. (Her son has the similar name as someone much older than he is who has been convicted of sex crimes.) However, she says if she did have a gay son, she would love him. She gave an example of how she has worked in a postive manner with gay people in the past, and respected them as individuals. She emphasized that it is the “agenda” and “lifestyle” that is “more dangerous than terrorism,” and similar to cancer in they way that it spreads…not individuals.

Rev. Jones accused Kern of hate speech, and claimed that those Christians who believe that homosexuality is wrong are improperly understanding verses in scripture condemning homosexuality. He continued to insist throughout the interview that any condemnation of homosexuality is an attack on him, personally. “Homophobia is a sin,” he said, “Homosexuality is not.”

Two view part one of the discussion click here or on the image above.
Part two of the discussion is here.

Senator James A. Williamson (R-Tulsa), the Senate author of House Bill 1804 and the co-chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said yesterday regarding a study by the Oklahoma Bankers Association regarding House Bill 1804, Oklahoma’s illegal immigration law:

Oklahoma’s economy is stronger and in much better shape than the national economy, and we’re probably doing as well as ever here in Oklahoma. We certainly aren’t seeing any evidence that HB 1804 is negatively impacting our state economy. In fact, most Oklahomans believe that our state will benefit in the long run from the reforms contained in House Bill 1804.

Even if a few businesses are impacted by a departure of illegals from Oklahoma, this will be more than offset by the positives to the taxpayers of Oklahoma. The legislation gets illegal aliens off of welfare, reduces the substantial costs of illegals to public education, and keeps illegals who have left the state from committing crimes or driving in Oklahoma without insurance. All of these public benefits were why the legislation passed by overwhelming margins in the House and Senate.

HB 1804 was passed by the Legislature in 2007. It eliminates welfare benefits and most other public assistance for illegal aliens, and mirrors federal laws that make it a crime to harbor, transport, or shelter an illegal alien. The Oklahoma Bankers Association claimed in its study that HB 1804 will have a negative impact on Oklahoma’s economy.

The screw-job that is the NBA Sonics coming to town will explode in more detail this week, insiders tell the Oklahoma Political News Service.

Gov. Henry floated a trial balloon yesterday for the millionaire owners of the Seattle Sonics, who continue their double-cross of Oklahoma taxpayers.

Henry is quoted today as saying that Oklahoma must “do more” to bring the NBA to Oklahoma City, despite the fact that Sonic ownership has repeatedly told the Seattle media that the Sonics are coming to Oklahoma City, period.

Insiders say some outrageous liberal proposals will be introduced in the next few days. First, the state’s Quality Job Programs, an incentive to lure new business to Oklahoma, will be expanded to include professional sports teams. Second, the incentive will be expanded from 5.% of a company’s taxable wages to 5.5%. Third, an outrageous state income tax ‘rebate’ will be quietly included, which will result in the Sonic’s multi-millionaire players sending their Oklahoma state income tax not to the state treasury, but rather to the pockets of the team’s owners.

Watch for more trial balloons this week. Our insiders say Republicans will carry this latest taxpayer rip-off legislative effort, and that members of all caucuses are divided as to what to do about this brazen money grab. Once insider tells OKPNS that if the taxpayers ever pay attention to what’s going on, “There will be blood.”

To refresh your memory, it was OKPNS who broke the story of the sell-out to millionaires.

Stay tuned to OKPNS to see how state leaders spin and dissemble on the public. For the latest in Sonics propaganda/corporate welfare news, click here.

Related:

Lazy OK Press Follows OKPNS Lead (2/18/2008)

OK Media Wakes Up: Double Crossers In Cross Hairs? (3/ 07/2008)

Drivers who were illegally overcharged for gasoline could see a refund after a Tulsa gas station owner pleaded no contest today to price gouging during the December ice storms, Attorney General Drew Edmondson said.

Mohammed Mannan, 38, was charged Feb. 12 in Tulsa County District Court with three misdemeanor counts of violating the Oklahoma Emergency Price Stabilization Act. Mannan, owner and operator of the M&F Mart, 3025 S. Memorial in Tulsa, was accused of illegally raising the price of gasoline from $2.69 to $3.29 after a state of emergency was declared in December.

Mannan, who was ordered to serve a six-month deferred sentence, must pay refunds to consumers who paid the artificially inflated price. Consumers who think they may have been overcharged will need to complete a consumer complaint form and provide a receipt, bank or credit card statement or other proof of payment. Purchases made on Dec. 10 may be eligible for a refund. To receive a form, consumers can contact the attorney general’s Consumer Protection Unit at 405-521-2029 or www.oag.ok.gov. Mannan will also pay a $1,500 fine plus court costs.

Oklahoma’s price gouging statute prohibits an increase of more than 10 percent in the price of most goods and services when a state of emergency has been declared:

No person for the duration of a declaration of emergency by the Governor of this state or by the President of the United States and for thirty (30) days thereafter shall sell, rent, or lease, or offer to sell, rent, or lease, for delivery in the emergency area, any goods, services, dwelling units, or storage space in the emergency area at a rate or price which is more than ten percent (10%) above the rate or price charged by the person for the same or similar goods, services, dwelling units, or storage spaces immediately prior to the declaration of emergency unless the increase in the rate or price is attributable only to factors unrelated to the emergency and does not include any increase in profit to the seller or owner.

…by OK Rep. Randy McDaniel

Oklahoma City - March 24, 2008 - The arts are a vital part of a well-rounded education and vibrant state. Oklahoma has enjoyed more than its fair share of creative and innovative artists. From worldwide singers and entertainers to outstanding visual artists, Oklahomans have dreamed big and been on the forefront of creativity.

The Oklahoma Creativity Project, headed by OSU President Burns Hargis, strives to make Oklahoma a recognized hub of creativity and ingenuity. I strongly endorse his efforts and want to contribute to the initiative.

Recently, the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed a bill I authored, House Bill 2699, which was named the “Traveling Arts Bill”. This bill provides Oklahoma students in schools that do not have existing visual arts programs access to the arts. As schools focus increasingly on teaching for the next standardized test, art and creativity have been pushed aside. In fact, in many schools with limited resources, art classes have been completely eliminated.

The Oklahoma Art Council is in charge of awarding grants to qualified organizations willing to travel the state and teach art in schools without full-time visual arts teachers.

Suzanne Tate, the new executive director of the Oklahoma Arts Council, said this bill is important for Oklahoma schools because it brings arts back into the classroom in a sustainable way, giving every student the opportunity to be exposed to it. She also added that art helps kids learn by opening up the world and exposing them to new cultures and new types of art. Many students are visual learners and art helps them with the learning process making it easier for them to achieve and do well in other academic areas like math and science.

Once all schools are able to offer quality art programs, teachers can also take advantage of the great educational opportunities found across the state. From City Arts, the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, and the Oklahoma City Museum of Art to the Philbrook and Gilcrease Museums, Oklahoma offers outstanding attractions that will enhance students’ art-educational experiences.

Oklahoma is also a host to many arts festivals, including the annual Oklahoma City Arts Festival held in April. This week-long festival provides students another opportunity to gain exposure to professional artists and all types of outstanding art, including sculpture, painting, photography, and pottery.

Arts education provides students an advantage as they begin to compete for jobs and careers in the 21st century economy. Art education helps enhance critical thinking skills and creativity. Thus, when students have access to the arts, it ignites their intellectual curiosity and development preparing them for our rapidly changing society.

See also: The OKPNS State of Creativity Archive