Furlough Funding In Jeopardy - Updated
Update on Furlough Funding: Success at the Capitol!
OCP would like to thank the many legislative leaders for their work in forming an agreement to secure the DOC supplemental funding. Once again, the furloughs have been avoided. Tough decisions had to be made, but in the end, the legislature found a way to fund the DOC as they had previously agreed, AND pledged to fund senior nutrition centers in FY11. As always, Representative Terrill and Senator Sykes, chairs of the Public Safety Appropriations Committees, deserve a big thank you for their continued commitment to Oklahoma’s public safety.
OCP made a BIG showing at the Capitol on Wednesday! Thanks very much to those members who were able to come to Oklahoma City and show their support. Our group met with many legislators in the Rotunda of the Capitol while negotiations on the funding were taking place. Seeing all those DOC employees, along with a great turnout of State Troopers as well, was a good reminder to our lawmakers that the decisions they were making would have major impacts on public safety in the State. And once an agreement for funding was met, our OCP members stood with those lawmakers in the press conference to announce it.
OCP would like to thank the many members from JHCC and LARC who made the trip, as well as some from as far as Tulsa and Fredrick! Check the site again soon to see the pictures from that day. Not only did they show up in force, they looked and acted professional and truly were model representatives of the agency. Thanks also to those of you who couldn’t make it but took the time to call or email your legislators. By Wednesday afternoon, when the big decisions were being made, there was no question where OCP stood on the issue.
Now that funding for FY10 is secure, it’s on to the FY11 budget negotiations. Keep an eye on the website for updates as the legislative session progresses.
As you may have heard, the supplemental funding intended to avoid DOC furloughs is in jeopardy. Last month, legislative leadership announced an agreement to provide $7.2 million in supplemental funding to the Department of Corrections in order to stave off the impending furloughs. This week, the bill to provide that supplemental funding is being held up in the Senate. While the bill itself passed, the emergency clause didn’t. And unless the emergency clause passes, the funding won’t be available until next fiscal year, so AFTER the furloughs have already occurred!
Here’s the problem: the 21 Senators voting against the emergency clause are doing so in an attempt to get leadership to come up with an additional $2.5 million to fund senior citizen nutrition centers around the State. They’ve hijacked the supplemental funding bill in order to do so. While we can sympathize with those who want to fund meals for seniors, thousands of employees are dependent upon the passage of this supplemental funding to avoid furloughs, or else feeding their own families will become more difficult.
The bill will likely be reconsidered this Thursday. Of those 21 votes against the bill, we only need to convince seven members to change their minds. (It takes a 2/3 vote to pass an emergency clause.)
OCP MEMBERS, HERE ARE SOME WAYS YOU CAN HELP!
1) Be at the Capitol tomorrow – Wednesday the 3rd – at 1:30 p.m.
Representative Terrill and Senator Sykes, Chairs of the Public Safety Appropriations Committees, are holding a press conference about this issue tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. in Room 432B of the Capitol. Representative Terrill invited OCP to attend the meeting and bring as many members as possible. We’re sorry for the late notice (we only received this information at the end of the day) but the more people we have supporting Rep. Terrill and Sen. Sykes in this meeting, the more powerful their message about the need for this supplemental funding will be. If you’d like to attend, we’re meeting on the 4th floor in the Rotunda of the Capitol at 1:30p.m. We hope to see you there!
2) Contact your legislators!
There are SEVEN Senators who voted no on supplemental funding (and one who didn’t vote – Senator Sparks) who have facilities in their districts, AKA OCP MEMBERS IN THEIR DISTRICTS! If we can get those legislators to change their vote, the funding is secure. See below for those members, the facilities they represent, and their contact information. If you don’t work at one of those facilities, contact them anyway! Please contact them no later than 9:00 am Thursday morning! Here’s a sample email you can send a Senator (or feel free to write your own or leave a phone message with their assistant):
Senator ___________,
Please reconsider your vote on HB2435. The bill would authorize supplemental funding to the Department of Corrections, which is needed to avoid furloughing the agency’s 4,500+ employees. While I sympathize with your concern that senior nutrition centers receive sufficient funding, I respectfully request that you do not hold up the Corrections funding to accomplish that end.
Sincerely,
_________________________
A Member of the Oklahoma Corrections Professionals
Dick Conner Correctional Center - Please contact Senator Sweeden!
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(405) 521-5581
Eddie Warrior Correctional Center – Please contact Senator Garrison!
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(405) 521-5533
Howard McLeod Correctional Center – Please contact Senator Ellis!
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(405) 521-5614
Jackie Brannon Correctional Center – Please contact Senator Lerblance
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(405) 521-5604
Jess Dunn Correctional Center – Please contact Senator Garrison!
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(405) 521-5533
Jim Hamilton Correctional Center – Please contact Senator Corn!
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(405) 521-5576
Joseph Harp Correctional Center – Please contact Senator Sparks!
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(405) 521-5553
Lexington Assessment and Reception Center – Please contact Senator Sparks!
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(405) 521-5553
Mabel Bassett Correctional Center – Please contact Senator Coates!
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(405) 521-5547
Mack Alford Correctional Center – Please contact Senator Ellis!
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(405) 521-5614
Oklahoma State Reformatory – Please contact Senator Ivester!
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(405) 521-5545
Oklahoma State Penitentiary – Please contact Senator Lerblance!
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(405) 521-5604
Last Updated (Friday, 05 March 2010 06:46)