Opinion

The race is on with just one day left until the bill request deadline on Friday, Dec. 8. I’m working on several bills for the upcoming session, and I’ll be sharing these with you in the coming weeks.

There is no better time than now for an alternative party to form and offer a viable candidate for the President of the United States. With the two leading contenders, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, catering to the extremes of their parties, there are many of us who are upset and would gladly throw our support behind a moderate third-party candidate.

One threatened to fight a union boss on the U.S. Senate floor. The other vowed support for a lobbying group that wants state lawmakers to reduce criminal penalties for cockfighting.

Continuing our discussion of new laws, there’s one in particular that will be of great interest in our rural district. This past session, we approved House Bill 1962 to allow teenagers between the ages of 14 and 17, who live or work on a farm, to get a Farm Driving Permit. This allows them to operate any Class D motor vehicle with certain restrictions. Given that agriculture is one of our state’s top industries and we have somewhere around 85,000 farms and ranches, this new law is going to come in very handy. You can visit https://oklahoma.gov/service/all-pages/ farm-driving-permit.html to learn more.

Over the past two years, the world has certainly grown increasingly unstable and dangerous, first with Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked and unjust invasion of Ukraine, and now with war in Israel and Iran-backed terrorist group attacks spurring up across the Middle East.

As state director of the National Federation of Independent Business, I’m thankful for Oklahoma’s small businesses. I’m thankful for their drive and stubbornness, their determination to keep the lights on and keep people working.

E ach year during the month of November, I am proud that our nation takes this time to reflect on the unique heritage, rich history and special contributions of Native Americans. As a proud member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, I always take this special time to reflect on my tribal heritage and the importance of tribes and their members in the United States. And as the longest serving Native American in the U.S. House of Representatives, the privilege and honor it is to represent the interests of tribes in Congress is certainly not lost on me.

This last week, my Senate Republican colleagues and I gathered together for the annual three-day Caucus Retreat to go over what we accomplished this past session and to collaborate on the main issues we’d like to address this session.

With about three months left until the beginning of session, bill filing is underway. I filed the first Senate measure of the upcoming session, Senate Bill 1197, to designate the section of U.S. Highway 77 beginning on the east side of the James C. Nance Bridge extending through Lexington to the intersection of Moffatt Road in Cleveland County as the Col. John L. Smith Medal of Honor Recipient Memorial Highway.

As we just observed Veterans Day on Nov. 11 and remembered the many heroes who have bravely defended the United States of America, I am filled with deep gratitude. Like all Americans, I am thankful to all who have answered the call to serve, and especially to the estimated 300,000 living Oklahomans who have fought for our freedom and advanced our democracy.

Jennifer Palmer’s story about two requests for proposals by the State Department of Education raised a lot of eyebrows (see story on page 1 of this week’s issue of the Newcastle Pacer).