Stiles Bill Protects the Custody Rights of Deployed Military Personnel

Rep. Aaron Stiles
R-Norman

State Rep. Aaron Stiles praised Gov. Mary Fallin for signing legislation designed to ensure deployed parents will not lose the custody of their children while serving the country.

House Bill 1603, by Stiles (R-Norman), bans military deployment as a reason to modify custody, bans courts from entering final orders while the deployed parent is deployed, provides for remote electronic hearings and allows deployed personnel to designate a family member to exercise visitation and enforce custody.

“I’ve seen in my law practice where a service member will be deployed and will come home to find his son or daughter trained to call someone else his ‘new Daddy’,” Stiles said. “This is a sad occurrence. This bill will give the service members more power to stop this type of scenario from happening. The legislation ensures service members’ custody and visitation rights are protected while they are deployed.”

Stiles said that losing custody and visitation rights should not be one of the sacrifices service members have to make to serve the country.

“Our military men and women already sacrifice time with their families,” Stiles said. “They shouldn’t have to lose their rights to see their families when they are home because they were not present to defend those rights.”

Governor Mary Fallin Signs Bills into Law to Aid Military Personnel and Families

Governor Mary Fallin today announced she signed into law measures to aid Oklahoma military personnel and families. House Bill 1603, House Bill 1343 and Senate Bill 115 all received unanimous support in the Oklahoma Legislature.

“As the legislative session comes to a close and Memorial Day approaches, this is a fitting end to a constructive and historic legislative year,” said Fallin. “I’m proud of our lawmakers for working in a bipartisan manner to get these bills to my desk and ensure that we are honoring the brave Oklahomans in the United States military.”

HB 1343 grants college scholarships to the children of military personnel killed in the line of duty after January 1, 2000. Scholarships will be administered through the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program (OHLAP).

HB 1603 prohibits the use of military deployment as a cause for changes in child custody agreements, ensuring that military deployment cannot be used as a negative factor in determining custody.

SB 115 protects military voting rights by ensuring state election law complies with federal law relating to voting practices for active duty military personnel.

“We owe our very freedom to the servicemen and women who risk their lives to defend this state and this nation,” Fallin said. “I am proud to be able to sign into law a series of bills that protect their families and their rights. They deserve nothing less.”

Today is the last day Fallin has to act on legislation passed during the 2011 legislative session.

Dank Praises Passage of Tax Exemption Tradeoff

Rep. David Dank
R-Oklahoma City

State Rep. David Dank (R-Oklahoma City) today praised the members of the House Revenue and Taxation Committee for trading a sales tax exemption he called “nonsense” for one that benefits the surviving spouses of disabled veterans.

In an unusual move, Dank successfully urged the committee he chairs to remove a 2006 sales tax exemption granted to rock quarries and replace it with one that extends an existing sales tax exemption for 100-percent disabled veterans to their surviving unmarried spouses.

“This was a victory for common sense,” Dank said. “I can’t recall a time when we tossed out one of those last-minute giveaway tax benefits that are simply nonsense and replaced it with one that makes real sense.”

The rock quarry sales tax exemption was added to legislation in the closing hours of the 2006 special legislative session. Dank said a lobbyist apparently convinced a legislative leader to add the measure.

“There was no reason for it,” he said. “It was simply one of those backroom giveaways. Why should rock quarries be exempt from sales taxes and not sandpits or brickyards?”

Dank said the fiscal impact of the 2006 exemption for rock quarries was estimated at about $360,000. The impact of extending the existing sales tax exemption for disabled vets to their widows or widowers was set at some $400,000.

“So I proposed a trade to the committee,” Dank said. “Dump this wasteful special interest tax break that does nothing for the average taxpayer and replace it with a benefit that recognizes and rewards families that gave so much in service to our country.”

Dank said the rock quarry tax exemption is “just one more example of those last-minute deals written into the tax code to give special treatment for narrow special interests. It is why we need to move ahead with a complete examination of our tax code.”

Dank’s amendment stripping the rock quarry sales tax exemption from law was added to the bill extending the exemption to vets’ survivors, which is sponsored by Sen. Don Barrington and Rep. Ann Coody (both R-Lawton). The amended bill will now go to the House Appropriations and Budget Committee for action.

It's Four Chaplains Day Today, As the Ship Slid Under They were Praying for the Safety of the Men

The Four Chaplains were four United States Army chaplains who gave their lives to save other soldiers during the sinking of the troop ship USAT Dorchester during World War II. They helped other soldiers board lifeboats and gave up their own life jackets when the supply ran out. The chaplains joined arms, said prayers, and sang hymns as they went down with the ship.


The chaplains, who all held the rank of lieutenant, were the Methodist Reverend George L. Fox, Rabbi Alexander D. Goode, the Roman Catholic Priest John P. Washington and the Reformed Church in America Reverend Clark V. Poling. 

Remembering on Memorial Day

After attending this morning's ceremony at the 45th Infantry Division Museum I feel impressed to pass along this thought from the conclusion of President Ronald Reagan's 1986 Memorial Day address at Arlington National Cemetery:

"And we owe them something, those boys. We owe them first a promise: That just as they did not forget their missing comrades, neither, ever, will we. And there are other promises. We must always remember that peace is a fragile thing that needs constant vigilance. We owe them a promise to look at the world with a steady gaze and, perhaps, a resigned toughness, knowing that we have adversaries in the world and challenges and the only way to meet them and maintain the peace is by staying strong.

That, of course, is the lesson of this century, a lesson learned in the Sudetenland, in Poland, in Hungary, in Czechoslovakia, in Cambodia. If we really care about peace, we must stay strong. If we really care about peace, we must, through our strength, demonstrate our unwillingness to accept an ending of the peace. We must be strong enough to create peace where it does not exist and strong enough to protect it where it does. That’s the lesson of this century and, I think, of this day. And that’s all I wanted to say. The rest of my contribution is to leave this great place to its peace, a peace it has earned."

To my family members,  my friends and all the brave Americans who have answered the call to preserve our Nation and its principles of Freedom on the fields, skies and seas of battle, thank you. I can not repay you but I will remember and I will teach my children to remember and to keep our promise to you.

Read the full text of President Reagan's address at http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=37350&st=Memorial+Day

House Approves Legislation to Exempt Military Personnel from Vehicle Tag Renewal Fine While Deployed

OKLAHOMA CITY (April 19, 2010) – Under legislation approved by the Oklahoma House of Representatives today, military personnel deployed outside the state would be exempt from a fine if they failed to renew their vehicle tag.

Senate Bill 1816, by state Sen. Brian Bingman and state Rep. Pat Ownbey, would make military personnel deployed outside the state exempt from penalty during their assignment and for 60 days after that assignment ends.

“Deployment makes it difficult to keep up with a number of local details including vehicle tag renewal,” Ownbey, R-Ardmore, said. “Legislators have continually looked for ways to reward those men and women who choose to serve our country. This is my contribution, an exemption from a fine if they fail to renew their tag while they are deployed outside the state.”

In addition to the numerous Oklahomans who serve in other branches of the military, around 400 members of the Oklahoma National Guard are currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Maj. Gen. Myles Deering has recently said he expects some 4,000 Oklahoma National Guard soldiers and airmen will be deployed.

Email Added to Overseas Absentee Voting Act

Senate Bill 458, coauthored by Rep. Jason Nelson, passed the House of Representatives today 92-0.

SB 458 relates to the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986.

The measure provides that the secretary of the county election board may transmit balloting materials to an electronic mail address if the voter is a federal postcard application registrant, is eligible to receive an absentee ballot, provides a current address that is located outside the United States and an electronic mail address, and requests that balloting materials be sent by electronic mail.

"This bill will make it easier for our men and women in the armed services to excersize their right to vote."

Tax Relief for Tornado Victims, Military Widows and Energy Efficient Homes

OKLAHOMA CITY (April 9, 2009) – Legislation to expand tax incentives for building energy efficient homes and give tax relief to the victims of the Feb. 10 tornado and spouses of fallen servicemen has been passed out of the House Appropriations and Budget Committee.

Senate Bill 481, by state Sen. Todd Lamb and state Rep. Jason Nelson, would expand the existing credit for construction of energy efficient residential property, so that the credit can be used on the construction of property of any size beginning Jan. 1, 2010. Currently, the eligible residential properties are limited to 2,000 square feet.

The bill would also give tornado victims an income tax credit for tax years after Dec. 31, 2009 and a credit for registration fees and the excise tax for any vehicle purchased to replace a vehicle destroyed by the Feb. 10 tornado.

Larger residential properties stand to gain the most from energy efficiency, Nelson said.

“Large buildings consume the most energy and therefore it is common sense to include them as eligible for this tax incentive,” Nelson said. “My legislation would save builders a total of $2.4 million, allowing them to focus on lowering the energy costs for Oklahomans who purchase their homes.”

Nelson said tornado victims were in need of tax relief and that he was glad they would be supported by his measure also.

“The February 10 tornado was devastating to some Oklahoma families and individuals and I am proud to include tax relief for them in my bill,” Nelson said.

An amendment to the bill also added an income tax exemption for the spouses of fallen servicemen and women.

“These brave men and women have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country,” Nelson said. “Their spouses, who have suffered a great loss, deserve our consideration. My hope is that the legislation will help honor their memories.”

Senate Bill 481 now proceeds to the full House for debate and a vote.