Busy week sandwiches family time

The past week has been another busy one in Senate District 43, and the remainder of the week will be equally as busy. That said, I was able to steal a few days away with my husband, Stephen, to celebrate our 12th anniversary. He’s wanted to visit Santa Fe for a while now and with the help of our parents, co-workers, and friends, I somehow managed to keep a secret from him (for two entire months) and took him there for our anniversary. After about 10 minutes, I finally convinced him that our dinner plans were in New Mexico and not Oklahoma City; once he was on board for a road trip, we had a great adventure!

I decided this past summer that I wanted to visit every state capitol building before I die, so we kicked off the tours this week by stopping at the New Mexico State Capitol. It was beautiful, but it was no Oklahoma Capitol! If it says anything about how much that man loves me, he let me sit in on an interim study about criminal justice reform and another about renewable energy; both studies were interesting, and I enjoyed getting to see what other states are doing to improve public policy in these areas.

I was fortunate to meet with Elizabeth Pollard, the Secretary of Science and Innovation, on Friday afternoon to discuss her strategy and vision for Oklahoma’s growth in the fields of technology and science. She is a brilliant woman who I believe has the passion, determination, and grit to move Oklahoma forward with job creation and encourage economic development in these industries.

The State Chamber has their fly-in to Washington D.C. this week, and although I couldn’t attend, I know there are many state leaders and lawmakers who are anxious to learn more about what’s going on at the U.S. Capitol that will impact business, industry, trade, and commerce in Oklahoma. Trips such as these are important in the policy development that goes on at our State Capitol. I will be attending a similar fly-in next month to learn more about education policy in Arizona with Education Secretary, Ryan Walters, and several of my colleagues from the Senate and House.

Last week, I attended the Care Providers Oklahoma Fall Conference to learn more about health care workforce development, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regulation, and strategies for improving care quality in Oklahoma. I also have several online conferences this week and look forward to learning more about veteran’s health care policy reform, education, and mental health.

To finish out last week, I was invited to participate on a legislative panel with my colleagues, Senators Brenda Stanley, Shane Jett and Rob Standridge, at the Oklahoma Federation of College Republicans’ annual fall summit in Norman. They had a long lineup of elected officials, including Governor Kevin Stitt, U.S. Senator James Lankford, State Senator Adam Pugh, and Oklahoma County Sheriff Tommy Johnson.

If you know any college-aged young adults who would be interested in learning more about conservative public policy, I highly suggest connecting them with OKFCR to get involved! This group of young men and women are active in working to get conservative leaders elected in our state and do a great job of advocating for issues important to their age group. For those constituents interested, there is a similar group called College Democrats of Oklahoma, whose policy focus aligns more with the Democratic Party and are equally as active in statewide races, legislative races, and local races in Oklahoma.
If you have any questions or concerns on legislative matters, please contact me at the Capitol. Please write to Senator Jessica Garvin, State Capitol, 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd. Room 237, Oklahoma City, OK, 73105, email me at Jessica.Garvin@oksenate.gov or call (405) 521-5522.