The Blanchard Lions football team is off to a great start with three wins and no losses, and currently ranked eighth in Class 4A. The Lions first true test as to how good they really are will be Friday night in Blanchard against the Tuttle Tigers. The game will probably match the speed and stealth of the Lions against the strength and brute force of the Tigers. Probably a toss up..
Just as school voucher bills such as Senate Bill 560 are considered by many to be Corporate Enrichment Bills, there are (justice reform) reform bills such as House Bill 1482 (sponsored by Representative Scott Biggs (C) of Chickasha and Representative Tim Downing (C) of "parts unknown", Purcell or Norman) that must be classified as Corporate Lawyer Enrichment Bills. (A double "reform" means no reform). Recently, Biggs and Downing have attempted to repeal important prison reform measures (SQ 780 and 781) approved by Oklahoma voters last November by sponsoring the lawyer enrichment measure - HB 1482. The citizen approved measures 780 and 781 allowed potential drug felony charges to be re-classified as misdemeanors, there by reducing Oklahoma's record setting incarceration rate for both men and women. (Oklahoma leads the nation for incarcerating women and is second for men). The over-incarceration of Oklahomans is both financially unsustainable and unjustified. The state funding saved by reducing our prison population will go to treatment programs for those convicted of drug crimes. To most Oklahomans, including Governor Mary Fallin, this (reducing our prison population) only makes sense, but to prosecuting attorneys and defense attorneys, it makes no sense at all. When a potential illegal drug offender is charged with a felony, as opposed to a misdemeanor, all involved attorneys make more money. Many people agree that the name of the game for attorneys is more money. Defense attorneys earn more money when defending against felony charges and attorneys justify their job when prosecuting felony charges, hence the classification of House Bill 1482 as a Lawyer Enrichment Bill.
Representatives Biggs (C) and Downing (C), (their official party is (R), but are labeled (C) because there is a distinction between conservative Republicans and corporate Republicans) have now taken their enrichment efforts to a new level, by conducting a non-scientific (bogus) survey of Oklahomans which they hope will justify their actions for repealing or holding up important justice reform measures - as evidenced in the fall-out with Governor Fallin. In the "falling-out" photo, Biggs explains his "lawyer enrichment" position while Downing encouragingly looks on.
House Bill 1482 was not the only "Enrichment Bill" enrolled by (C)'s during the last Legislative session. Senate Bill 560, a school voucher bill, would have directed Oklahoma tax dollars to a Lawmakers choice of private or corporate charter school. The bill, sponsored by Senator Rob Standridge (C) of Norman, would have diverted public school funding to privates and charters (many of which are out-of-state and international) and away from our local public schools. It (SB 560) passed out of a Senate committee on a 9 to 8 vote (nine (C)'s voted in favor, while eight Republicans and Democrats voted against the bill), but did not get a vote on the Senate floor - so died. SB 560 is known by many as a Corporate Enrichment Bill since, if passed into Law it would have "enriched" corporate education groups such as the American Federation for Children AFC). The AFC Legislator Action Fund would then "launder" the public school tax dollars acquired, and send some of it back to the supportive state Senators (C) and Representatives (C). I'm quite sure all (C)'s will get a piece of the taxpayers pie.
Enrichment bills such as HB 1482 and SB 560 will most certainly rear their ugly heads during the 2018 Legislative session, as any bill is never completely dead. It is what they do, and why the Corporate Lawmakers at the capitol continue to "beat the drums" for more money...
Update: Scott Biggs and Tim Downing on the Hotseat for "Lawyer Enrichment Bills" - Scott Biggs (C) appeared on Scott Mitchell's News 9 Hot Seat Sunday, for a rundown of just how his "corrections reform" stonewalling will benefit highly paid state attorneys.
Not only did Biggs (C) and Downing (C) try to pass HB 1482 which would have effectively repealed their constituents will (SQ 780 and 781), but Biggs blocked several other justice reform bills (too numerous to identify) last session. These bills were supported by conservative Republicans such as Governor Fallin, but not supported in the Corporate Enrichment community, so Biggs (as Chair of a House "Justice" committee) blocked all from being heard on the House floor. He said it was in the interest of his not understanding what the difference between a violent crime and a non-violent crime is... or the difference between is and is, is. Nonetheless, Bigg's and Downing's blockage of the corrections reform measures was in the name of lawyer enrichment.
Scott Biggs has subsequently sent a survey to 150 Oklahoma citizens in hopes of getting answers for himself on just what the difference between a "dangerous" felony and a non-violent crime. He hopes to use the survey answers during the next Legislative session to get a bill passed, which like HB 1482, will support lawyer enrichment. I only have a few questions concerning "the survey", which can be accessed on nondoc.com, like "Was the survey only sent to 150 lawyers?" I would say the answer is probably yes. The list of crimes to be labeled as "serious" or "not so serious" is almost 700 in number, so, "will anyone other than an attorney complete and return it?" I would say - probably not. We will continue to watch Lawyer Enrichment Bills sponsored by Scott Biggs (C) and Tim Downing (C) as next session unfolds, whether they be concerning "corrections reform" or "public school reform".
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