Rep. Tad Jones
State Representative - District 9
OKLAHOMA CITY — Several state education mandates would be temporarily relaxed for two years to give school districts additional financial flexibility under legislation unanimously passed by the House this week. House Bill 3029 gives school districts more flexibility to prioritize their funds into areas that work best for their local community.
The legislation suspends several mandates, including some accreditation requirements, library media expenditures, class size requirements, advisory councils, certification requirements for library media specialists, the mentor teacher program and freezes the textbook adoption cycle. Combined, relaxing the mandates for fiscal year 2011 and 2012 will free up millions of dollars that school districts can redirect to general operations expenses in the classroom. Legislation seeking to boost Oklahoma’s alternative energy usage, especially locally-produced natural gas and wind, overwhelmingly passed the House this week. House Bill 3028 creates the Oklahoma Energy Security Act. The legislation creates a renewable energy standard for Oklahoma, which will set a goal for the state that aims to best utilize the state’s abundant natural resources.
The renewable energy standard will be that 15 percent of all electricity generated within the state by the year 2015 be generated from renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, geothermal and energy conservation efforts. About 35 states have some form of renewable portfolio standard. Arkansas is the only neighboring state without one. The legislation would not serve as a mandate, but instead will set a goal for Oklahoma energy companies to meet. More detailed information on state expenditures will be available on the state’s transparency Web site if legislation unanimously passed by the House this week becomes law. House Bill 3422 would make state expenditures more transparent and available online, allowing the public to see exactly where their tax dollars are being spent.
The bill:
• requires that all purchases made with state funds be disclosed on the online database, regardless of the amount of the expenditure
• requires that each individual expenditure be listed separately instead of being lumped together as one purchase (for example, instead of listing several purchases under ‘office expenses’, detail would be required for each item purchased)
• requires that the information provided on the website be searchable, either by using the name of the recipient, the entity making the purchase, or the date of the expenditure
• requires that the data provided on the website be in a format in which users can easily export it into a separate document
• requires that the Office of State Finance create an online archive database where users can access data older than 18 months
The legislation is part of ongoing House Republican efforts to modernize state government in order to improve efficiency, all while further opening the process up to the public. The bill passed the House with and will next be considered in the Senate. If you have any questions or comments please contact me by e-mail at tadjones@okhouse.gov, by calling my Oklahoma City office at 800-522-8502 or locally at 918-520-4307.
• Tad Jones is state representative for District 9 representing Rogers County.
