This past week was a momentous one in our state’s history. Governor Stitt signed Senate Bill 631, which officially makes Oklahoma a Second Amendment Sanctuary State. I was proud to co-author this measure, which sends a strong message to the federal government that the right to keep and bear arms here in our state shall not be infringed.

WASHINGTON — Congressman Markwayne Mullin (OK-02) released the following statement after President Biden delivered his first address to a joint session of Congress. “President Biden’s actions so far have been anything but unifying and unfortunately, we heard more of the same from him tonight,” Mullin said.

It is a blessing for Southeast Oklahoma that Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell was able to resume the annual Lt. Governor’s Turkey Hunt this year after a year of hiatus as a result of the international China COVID crisis.

The House of Representatives voted on a party-line vote on H.R. 51 to make Washington, D.C., the nation’s 51st state, with 216 Democrats in favor and 208 Republicans opposed, and with the measure now proceeding to the U.S. Senate where it is almost certainly doomed to failure with 60 votes still needed to advance legislation making permanent changes to law.

After a long week of hearing bills on the Senate floor, we’ve officially concluded our work on House bills. Of the approximately 320 House bills that made it through the committee process, we approved approaching 280 of them. Our main focus now shifts to completing the Fiscal Year 2022 budget, which will begin on July 1.

By Andy and Renie Bowman Comments to: andybowman839@gmail.com Coffeetimecolumn.com Some years, and quite a few Coffeetime Columns ago, we wrote an article called Hellion Alert. It was about Andy recounting a true incident of eating lunch in a restaurant where a small, undisciplined child was wreaking havoc while the mother ignored it all.

Even in the midst of national press scandals and more political (and agency) corruption than American citizens can get their arms around, America’s future is still bright and can be the city on a hill that so much of the world seeks to relish.

I wanted to inform District 19 on one of the latest controversies that I find myself in. I have been receiving negative news coverage over my role in Senate Bill 2. I managed to get an education bill placed in the committee I chair, which is Criminal Justice and Corrections. We substituted language in the bill to require the state to use the sex reported on the original birth certificate to determine male or female gender, for sports participation. Simply put: biological males will play biological males on male sports teams, and biological females will play on female teams. I have been questioned why this bill was allowed in Criminal Justice and Corrections. I have explained that this issue directly affects corrections, as presently it is my understanding that another state has 21 cases of men who are claiming transgender status and are requesting to be moved to a female prison. Anyone with logic should see this a recipe for disaster.

This upcoming week is the final week for us to hear policy bills that originated in the House and were approved by their chamber. April 22 is the deadline to hear these measures, and of the roughly 320 measures we approved out of committee, we’ve heard approximately 120 of them on the floor. We’ll continue to work through the remaining. We did pass two bills this past week that will be of particular importance to Oklahomans in all four corners of the state. I know many of you have been anticipating higher-than-normal gas and electric bills due to February’s historic winter storm. The answer none of us really knew, though, was exactly how high this price increase would be.

This past week the Dogwood have made their presence known in Southeast Oklahoma, and when we see the muscadine break bud, we know the chances of a late frost grow less probable. It’s a pretty time of the year and the perfect antidote for one of the worst cases of cabin fever most have had to endure for decades...