Bill Banning Corporal Punishment On Students With Disabilities Advances
House Bill 1028 by Rep. John Talley (R-Anadarko) and Sen. Dave Rader (R-Tulsa) was introduced last year and garnered national attention when the House failed to pass it.
Similarly to last year, discussion on the bill often turned into religious debate. Sen. Shane Jett (R-Shawnee) asked how the bill can be rectified with biblical scripture that says, “those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children.” Rader responded.
“Jesus said, ‘Bring all the little ones unto me,’” Rader said. “He also said that if you harm one of these little ones, you’d be better off to have a stone cast around your neck and thrown into the water. I don’t want to be thrown in the water with a stone around my neck. I want to protect these kids.”
Jett repeatedly called the bill “communist ideology.”
The measure defines corporal punishment as “hitting, slapping, paddling, or any other means of inflicting physical pain on students.” Students who qualify for protections under the bill must be on an individualized education program (IEP), and listed disabilities range from autism to blindness to intellectual disabilities.
Sen. Mary Boren (D-Norman) said in debate she “never understood why a parent would need the school to spank their child.”
“In my Christian parenting classes, the relationship was an integral part in the use of corporal punishment to have a… tender, loving relationship if corporal punishment was ever going to be effective,” Boren said. “If you don’t have that relationship and that tenderness and ‘this hurts me more than it hurts you’ kind-of attitude, all you’re doing is giving swats, and they’re moving on with their day.”
Sen. Paul Rosino (R-Oklahoma City) said his grandchild is autistic, and hitting him for discipline doesn’t work, but rather “makes him go into a space that we all hate to see.”
“Taking children, especially children with disabilities, and using corporal punishment as a way to keep them in line is an awful way to discipline them,” Rosino said. “I heard something about… ‘this is a motivational tool.’ It’s not a tool. It’s hitting.”
The bill passed 31-11. Because it was amended, it returns to the House for consideration.
Audit Reveals Up To $100 Million In Questionable Costs In Oklahoma State Agency
A newly released audit found up to $100 million of questionable costs passing through the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services or OMES. The findings have Attorny General Gentner Drummond investigating a state official and calling for her resignation.
State Auditor Cindy Byrd’s new report says Oklahoma is becoming a “no-bid state,” thanks to mismanagement at OMES that started in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Byrd finds the agency created a new set of rules for vendor contracts that bypass the competitive bidding process. Other issues include exorbitant management fees for the distribution of rental assistance and a cushy contract for the husband of an agency leader.
That contract was approved by Shelley Zumwalt – then-OMES director and current Department of Tourism head. And it’s the reason Drummond is calling for her resignation.
The AG says this self-dealing represents a “unforgivable breach of trust that disqualifies Ms. Zumwalt from overseeing the expenditure of our tax dollars.”
Zumwalt released a statement to several media outlets saying she does not plan to resign and disputes the audit’s findings.
Oklahoma Natural Gas Requests Customer Rate Increase
Oklahoma Natural Gas is asking the state Corporation Commission to approve a rate hike.
The increase would cost the average customer about $2.50 more per month.
The bump would add nearly $32 million to ONG’s base rate revenue, which they say would offset business costs and infrastructure investments. The Corporation Commission last approved a rate increase for ONG in November 2022.
A Corporation Commission judge will hear public comment on the proposed rate hike on June 4th. After that, the full commission will conduct a hearing to determine whether a price increase is justified.
Oklahoma City Apple Store Workers Awarded Settlement Amidst Ongoing Contract Negotiations
Since forming a union in 2022, workers at the Penn Square Mall Apple store in Oklahoma City say they’ve made little progress in bargaining with the tech giant. But now, they’ve been awarded a settlement over an unfair labor practice charge filed last year.
The National Labor Relations Board approved a settlement agreement for an unfair labor practice charge regarding Apple’s termination of its paid COVID-19 sick leave policy without negotiating with the union. As a result, workers sick with COVID-19 suddenly had to take vacation or sick days or take days off with no pay.
As part of the settlement, Apple has agreed to credit the workers with the time they took off for COVID-19 from when they changed the policy in August until now.
Michael Forsythe, a member of the Penn Square Apple Store Bargaining Committee, says that adds up to over 700 hours across 28 current employees and one former employee.
This comes as workers have been attempting to negotiate a contract with Apple for over a year, but they say the company has not agreed to meet with them for more than two days a month and has not responded promptly to their proposals.
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