43 HOUSE JOURNAL First Regular Session of the Fiftieth Legislature of the State of Oklahoma Second Legislative Day, Monday, February 7 , 2005 Pursuant to Article V, Section 26 of the Constitution of the State of Oklahoma, the House of Representatives for the Fiftieth Legislature was called to order at 12:00 o'clock noon by Speaker Hiett. The roll was called with 101 Members present. The Speaker declared a quorum present. Prayer was offered by Pastor Jeff Burress, Wesley United Methodist Church, Shawnee. Pastor Burress is sponsored this week by Representative Steele. Upon motion of Representative Miller (Doug), Pastor Burress was confirmed as House Chaplain for this legislative week. The Journal for the last legislative day was approved. MOTION Representative Cargill moved that the Honorable Senate be notified by message that the House of Representatives is assembled and ready to convene in Joint Session, which was the order. JOINT SESSION The Second Joint Session of the First Regular Session of the Fiftieth Legislature assembled in the House Chamber on Monday, February 7, 2005, and was called to order by President of the Senate, Lieutenant Governor Mary Fallin. Senator Monson moved that the attendance roll call of the Senate be considered the roll call of the Senate in Joint Session, which was the order. 44 House Journal Representative Cargill moved that the attendance roll call of the House be considered the roll call of the House in Joint Session, which was the order. President Fallin declared quorums of the Senate and House present and the Joint Session duly convened. The invocation was given by Reverend Trace Morgan, First Baptist Church, Stillwater. COMMITTEE TO ESCORT GOVERNOR Senator Monson moved that the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House appoint a committee of Members from the Senate and the House respectively as a Joint Committee to notify Governor Brad Henry that the First Regular Session of the Fiftieth Legislature is now in Joint Session and ready to receive him and hear his message, which motion was declared adopted. President Fallin appointed Senators Coates, Monson, Bass and Wyrick. Speaker Hiett appointed Representatives Calvey, Shoemake and Billy. Governor Henry was escorted to the rostrum by the Joint Committee and presented to the Joint Session by President Fallin where he delivered his message. Upon unanimous consent request of Representative Cargill, the message of Governor Henry was ordered printed in full in the House Journal as follows: STATE OF THE STATE “Members of the House and Senate, Honorable Justices of the Supreme Court, Lt. Governor Fallin, Speaker Hiett, President Pro Tem Hobson, distinguished Cabinet and elected officials, honored guests and my fellow Oklahomans and friends: Our Heritage of Values In two months, our state -- our nation, in fact -- will observe the anniversary of one of the most tragic episodes in American history. April 19th will mark the 10-year anniversary of the massive bomb that tore through Oklahoma City’s Murrah Building. One hundred and sixty eight of our friends and neighbors lost their lives. Hundreds more were seriously injured. And yet the legacy of that dark day is one of compassion and decency and goodness. In the weeks and months that followed, Oklahomans demonstrated the caliber of our people. Something called “the Oklahoma Standard” became known throughout the world. It means resilience in the face of adversity. It means a strength and compassion that will not be defeated. Most of all, it means coming together as a family, the family that is Oklahoma. Second Legislative Day, Monday, February 07, 2005 45 The Oklahoma Family That legacy – the Oklahoma Family – is worth remembering today as we embark on a historic legislative session. Family is woven deeply into the tapestry of Oklahoma. Families are the compass that guide us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter. Like most Oklahomans, I was raised with a deep and abiding appreciation for, and love of, family. My parents, sadly, are no longer with us, but their spirit lives on in what they taught me about being a husband and a father. I am blessed to have three wonderful daughters. I am so proud of them, and they are here today to see how their dad does – Leah, Laynie and Baylee. And allow me also to introduce my wonderful wife – my best friend and closest education advisor – a graceful, gracious and incredibly poised First Lady, my wife, Kim Henry. The collective unity of the Oklahoma Family has led us to make tremendous strides forward these past two years, from progress in education to economic development and job creation, from building a better health care system to ensuring public safety. As stewards of state government, we have a moral responsibility to continue working together and moving our state forward. The mission is simple, but monumentally important. We must give Oklahoma families the opportunity to thrive and prosper. We must give Oklahoma children the ability to reach their potential. We must give our respected senior citizens access to world-class health care. We must give all Oklahomans the tools necessary to pursue the American dream. And then, we must get out of the way. I can report to you today that the State of the State of Oklahoma is strong and getting stronger, and positioned for greatness. We have the will and the commitment. We have the momentum. And now we must build on that momentum. The Road to Now It has been a challenging journey. When I became your governor two years ago, Oklahoma faced the worst funding crisis in the history of our state, a budget hole of nearly $700 million. It was a bleak time. Businesses struggled to make ends meet. Far too many Oklahomans were without work and having difficulty finding a job. Schools from Sayre to Stilwell braced themselves for disastrous cuts. But I reached out to both political parties and asked you to put aside your differences and put Oklahoma first. Together, we made the difficult decisions and emerged from the crisis without raising taxes – and yet we still managed to protect education and health care from catastrophic cuts. We worked together for the sake of Oklahoma and demonstrated that, together, there is no obstacle too daunting, no goal too ambitious. We didn’t simply pay lip service to fiscal responsibility; we walked the walk. We enacted zero-based budgeting to make sure every dollar is well-spent. We placed restrictions on the Rainy Day Fund to safeguard it for true emergencies. And we did both while still raising pay for our hard-working state employees. And we funded education first. 46 House Journal Since taking office, I have labored each day to give every Oklahoma child the opportunities and advantages of a great education. Legislators on both sides of the aisle have joined me in the pursuit of educational excellence, and I applaud each of you for your commitment. No other investment yields as great a return as the investment in education. An educated workforce is the foundation of every community and the future of every economy. But it is vital we remember that education is more than economic development. Education is not solely about earning a great living. It means living a great life. We have focused on the single most important factor in education, the quality of instruction. And that meant long-overdue help for Oklahoma’s dedicated, hard-working – and historically underpaid – teachers. Our schools are full of great teachers. I’ve met them, I’ve talked to them – I even married one. But our teachers are the worst-paid in our region and consistently among the worst-paid in the nation. No longer will we allow that travesty. Together we embarked on a plan to raise our teacher salaries to the regional average, and we strengthened classroom instruction by restoring mentoring programs and promoting National Board Certification. We built upon the promise of early childhood education, so much so that our preschools are now hailed as the best in the nation. For that, we are indebted to the many champions of early childhood education, a group that ranges from one of our most visionary businessmen and philanthropists, George Kaiser, to my personal favorite preschool advocate, Kim Henry. In November, I kept campaign pledge when voters overwhelmingly approved an education lottery and tribal gaming regulation act, the first new revenue streams for our schools in more than 15 years. To get it done, we entered a new era of cooperation with our great tribal nations for the benefit of all Oklahomans. And, we learned we can accomplish so much more by working together. Higher education is also vitally important to our state, and here, too, we have made significant progress. We ensured full funding for college scholarships, expanded research opportunities, and finally funded a backlogged endowed chair program. But an educated Oklahoma is meaningless if it is not also a healthy Oklahoma. Our new Premium Assistance Program will help our small businesses and provide health insurance for thousands of uninsured Oklahoma families. We also corrected a glaring discrepancy to ensure that Medicaid covers the cost of screening for breast and cervical cancer. We secured funding for our state trauma care system, and we finally committed to building a world-class cancer research center right here in Oklahoma. And I am proud that we finally brought help to the families of beleaguered Tar Creek. We implemented a voluntary relocation assistance program to help families with small children escape this lead poisoning nightmare. We dealt with another kind of poison, too, by delivering a powerful blow against the scourge of methamphetamine.