Non-stop action in Senate District 43

From county fairs to football games, this week has been busy in SD43. There were more interim studies at the Capitol, the Governor visited the Duncan Rotary and Education Secretary Ryan Walters and I met with school leadership across our district. I attended the ceremonial bill signing for nine pro-life bills at the Pregnancy Resource Network Conference and spoke as a panelist at the Women in Technology event at the Capitol. I also worked at my full-time job, celebrated my daughter’s fourth birthday, and served dinner with Sigma Nu Sorority to our community before the football game on Friday evening. To say I’m exhausted would be an understatement but seeing your messages with words of encouragement and gratitude make it all worthwhile. 

Many of you have reached out with concerns about President Biden’s vaccine mandate. I share your same concerns. Working in healthcare, it was important to me to protect myself and my children from anything I might contract at work, so I was vaccinated in January after consulting with my physician. I felt that was the right decision for me.

I believe that all individuals should consult with their medical provider to make health decisions that are best for themselves and their family. This mandate will negatively impact our workforce nationwide, especially in healthcare, where we’re already short staffed. I know our governor, attorney general and the Oklahoma Legislature will continue to monitor these mandates and are prepared to fight this federal overreach.

Despite disturbing national media reports, there are great things happening in Oklahoma. State revenues continue to increase due to Governor Stitt’s decision to leave our economy open for business. Additionally, Oklahoma has climbed to #7 nationwide for highway bridge conditions – a huge win since for many years, we ranked #49. Our Department of Transportation has done an incredible job prioritizing bridge conditions in their Eight-Year Plan.  

The Oklahoma Department of Human Services’ Developmental Disabilities Services Division (DDSD) recently launched their initiative to eliminate the waiting list for individuals with developmental disabilities. This means families who have been struggling to have their needs met through this program will soon get the relief they need. The DDSD waiting list had over 5,800 adults and children to be assessed for services in December 2020 and in 2019, the average wait time for services was over 12 years. This past session, the Legislature passed a bill allowing OKDHS to implement new ways to eliminate this list and provide services to Oklahomans in a timelier manner. I’m thankful that OKDHS has acted so quickly to develop a strategy and anxious to see the elimination of this long waiting list for vital services.

In closing, I want to share about a special family in SD43 - the family of Jason Freeman. Jason, who was a few years older than me, and I grew up attending church together. He was generous, compassionate, full of joy, and the kind of person who did incredible things for our little community of Marlow, but never wanted anyone to know. He was quick-witted, always finding ways to make people laugh, and it’s debatable whether his personality was bigger than his heart. Jason passed away unexpectedly last week, leaving a huge hole in his family’s life and in Outlaw Country. Jason leaves behind his wife, Keri, a teacher at Marlow Elementary School, two young children, Rex and Lexi, loving parents, Johnny and Laura, and his sister, Jennifer, and her family. Please pray for his family. With the current state of our country, Jason passing at such a young age is just another reminder to me that we should all give generously of our time and talents when we can, forgive more, love bigger and always seek common ground, because life is too short to allow our differences to consume us.

Thank you again for privilege of representing Senate District 43. If you have questions or concerns, please write to Senator Jessica Garvin, State Capitol, 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd. Room 237, Oklahoma City, OK, 73105, email at Jessica.Garvin@oksenate.gov or call (405) 521-5522.