Bergstrom Vice Chair of Senate Transportation Committee: Expanding and Protecting Oklahoma Economy a Top Priority

Adair legislator tapped as Vice Chair 

of Senate Transportation Committee

OKLAHOMA CITY –   State Senator Micheal Bergstrom was selected this week to serve as Vice-Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee of the 57^th legislature. 

“I am incredibly honored to have been selected to chair this committee,” said Bergstrom, R-Adair.  “I appreciate the opportunity to serve in this capacity and I’m ready to get to work as we strive to find ways to help Oklahoma and its citizens prosper with common sense, conservative ideas.

            In addition to being appointed to his newest post as Vice-Chair of the Transportation Committee, Bergstrom also was selected by Senate President Pro Tempore-designate Greg Treat to serve this year on the Public Safety and Business, Commerce and Tourism committees, as well as the Appropriations Subcommittee on Education.

"Economic development and finding ways to help expand and protect our state's economy are among my top priorities," said Bergstrom. "I am pleased with these committee assignments because they will help me to focus on those areas, work on education issues to make sure our young people are prepared to participate in the workforce of tomorrow, and look for ways to make sure our citizens are safe while helping those who have run afoul in our criminal justice system have an opportunity to return as productive and successful members of society."

Bergstrom was elected to the Senate in 2016 and lives in Adair.

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Bergstrom Calls For Caution Following Improved Revenue Forecast

Bergstrom comments on Board of Equalization certification

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – State Senator Micheal Bergstrom indicated he was pleased and encouraged after the state Board of Equalization certified an estimate indicating lawmakers will have an extra $612 million to spend in the 2020 fiscal year, which begins July 1.  The Adair Republican noted the actions taken at the Capitol the last two years have put the state in a much more stable positional financially going forward. 

“Oklahoma’s economy is definitely recovering and our budget situation is far better today than it was the past few years. The Board of Equalization’s preliminary revenue certification which projects the legislature will have perhaps an additional $600 million in revenue than we had for the 2019 budget is a positive sign,” said Bergstrom. “However, we need to be cautiously optimistic. We’ve had to make tough choices the past couple years and we will have to make more this session. Many state agencies have not yet submitted their budget requests and those requests received already exceed the $600 million mark.  Additionally, we have outstanding obligations that must still be met, like bonded indebtedness and funding for teaching hospitals.”

Bergstrom pointed out that the economy is cyclical and that the national economy will eventually slide into recession again and says planning for the future now and not overcommitting will help the state avoid another budget shortfall like it has seen in recent years.

“Education remains a top priority for Senate Republicans. Our passage last session of the largest teacher pay raise in state history is evidence of that,” said Bergstrom. “We intend to build upon that huge investment this session, while at the same time striving to establish our priorities and commitments for the long term.”

The Board of Equalization will return in February to certify a final estimate on how much lawmakers will have to spend in the upcoming legislative session.

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Being Agile in education and the workplace means being able to adjust and adapt to change.

Bergstrom attends 

‘Age of Agility’ Summit in OKC

OKLAHOMA CITY - State Senator Micheal Bergstrom, R-Adair, attended the Age of Agility Summit in Oklahoma City on August 30, joining business, education and policy leaders to hear insights and perspectives on what the future of work looks like in the current age of education and careers.

“Modern technology often forces radical shifts in the workforce, so it is imperative students are equipped to meet those challenges and utilize the rapidly changing tools needed in their chosen careers,” said Bergstrom. “In this modern Age of Agility similar to a renewed Industrial Revolution, leaders are now calling for changes in education that rise up and meet the new challenging forces in the economy.”

“For too long, Oklahoma has lagged behind much of the rest of the nation in getting our students prepared to enter the workforce, to excel in the marketplace,” Bergstrom said. “This past session with the education funding package we passed, we sent a clear message to our citizens and to business around the nation and the world that Oklahoma is taking education seriously. Now we need to continue that process, and part of what needs to be done is adjusting our education system to train students for quality jobs today and into the future.

“The Age of Agility Summit was an opportunity to meet with business and education leaders and discuss how we can get there,” Bergstrom stated.

This week’s event in Oklahoma City, sponsored by Oklahoma Achieves, America Succeeds and the U.S. Chamber Foundation, provided a discussion platform for restructuring the delivery of education, including crowdsource strategies and inventive solutions within Oklahoma as well as across the nation. The summit events were focused on improving the education-to-employment pipeline, while crafting strategies to modernize education, training and workforce preparedness.

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Cutline: Pictured at the Age of Agility Summit in Oklahoma City are Executive Director of Oklahoma Achieves Jennifer Monies and State Senator Micheal Bergstrom, R-Adair.

Bergstrom Joins Adair Firm Welcoming Georgian Ambassador

Bergstrom joins Trécé in welcoming 

Georgia Ambassador to Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY - State Senator Micheal Bergstrom, R-Adair, was recently joined by Trécé executives to welcome David Bakradze, Ambassador of Georgia to the United States, to Oklahoma earlier this summer. 

Bergstrom said Trécé was celebrating the expansion of its corporate facility as well as the success of their growing relationship with the Republic of Georgia.  The company’s involvement in Georgia was initially launched with the purchase and shipment of Trécé’s Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) lure and traps.  This was made possible by Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA), which is a global group implementing a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) project in Georgia.  Trécé sponsored a group of scientists earlier this year to study the BMSB infestation in Georgia and helped the nation salvage a crop from insect destruction by using the company’s environmentally friendly product.

"Trécé is a prime example of American innovation and entrepreneurship. Their products are used around the world and are making the lives of many more prosperous and secure,” said Bergstrom.   "It was a great privilege for me to join the company in its celebration of its success so far and to meet and welcome the Georgian Ambassador."

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Cutline:  Pictured from left to right are Bill Lingren, President and CEO of Trécé, Inc; Sen. Micheal Bergstrom; Brock Bierman, USAID Assistant Ambassador; and Ambassador David Bakradze, Ambassador of Georgia to the United States.

Remembering What We Celebrate on July 4

Capitol Considerations 

by Senator Micheal Bergstrom

Remembering What We Celebrate on July 4

Independence Day.

It’s a great time to hang out with the family, to shoot off some fireworks, get the grill going and barbecue some burgers, hot dogs and corn.

But how much time do we spend really thinking about what the Fourth of July is all about?

After all, when you think about it, on July 4, 1776, we were a bunch of British colonies that were fed up with England and the way King George and Parliament were treating us. Sure we were saying we wanted to go our own way, but the battle for freedom from England was going to take years.

Yet we celebrate the date we give for our Declaration of Independence.

Why?

Shouldn’t we celebrate the British surrender by Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis in Yorktown, Virginia on October 19, 1781 instead?

No.

Because what we celebrate is not a battle, not a victory, but a set of ideals that are the foundation of our nation.

When Abraham Lincoln penned the Gettysburg Address, he didn’t reference the constitution or the Bill of Rights as he set forth his proposition that all men are created equal and that this experiment known as the United States of America was in a battle for its very existence.

He declared, “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

Standing there on that podium at the dedication of the cemetery in Gettysburg, he was humbled by the sacrifice of those who had died there in that great battle and he directed the attention of his audience to 87 years earlier, to the Declaration of Independence.

He called on those who heard his words or read his words to recommit themselves to the preservation of this nation, and to do so, in part, by trusting in God.

“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

When Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech a century later, he did so on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., and while his words echoed President Lincoln when he declared, “Five score years ago a great American in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation,” he didn’t stop there, but likewise went on to reference the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

When Dr. King said, “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal," he was calling for the fulfillment of the promissory note that every American finds in the Declaration of Independence.

We are created equal.

We are not equal because our government says we are.

We are not equal because that is how we wish it to be.

We are equal, as Lincoln and Dr. King and Jefferson knew, because our God created us equal in His sight, and it is therefore for every nation “Under God” to see that its citizens are respected and treated with that in mind.

It was because of the unfair and unequal treatment of the colonies in America that they banded together and had Thomas Jefferson pen the Declaration, announcing the creation of this new nation, this experiment that has lasted for 242 years, the greatest, most generous, most powerful country in the world.

Jefferson wrote,

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Notice that it is Nature’s God, our Creator, that Jefferson points to as foundational in understanding how we should act in relation to each other as individuals, citizens and nations, and that it is Him that has endowed us with our unalienable rights.

As we celebrate this wonderful holiday, maybe as we’re sitting down with family and friends, it would be a good idea to talk about what we’re celebrating, the reason for the barbecue and fireworks, maybe pull up a copy of the Declaration of Independence on a tablet and read it to each other. Then while we’re at it, it might be a good idea to thank our Creator, the one that Jefferson and Lincoln and Dr. King kept talking about, for this great nation, our blessings, and for His protection and guidance of us and this republic, this magnificent experiment in Liberty and Freedom, the United States of America.

American Legion Boys State Forum, Hosted by NEO A&M

Bergstrom participates 

in Boys State forum

OKLAHOMA CITY –   State Senator Micheal Bergstrom and several of his fellow legislators attended the annual American Legion Boys State Legislative Forum this week, held at the NEO A&M campus in Miami on Wednesday, May 30.

Bergstrom was joined by State Representatives Mike Sanders, Scott Fetgatter, Ben Loring, as well as State Senator J.J. Dossett for the annual political roundtable discussion to address issues, ideology and the importance of being an educated and fact-based voter.

The Adair lawmaker said Wednesday’s event included several activities, including ceremonies for the nightly retreat and the lowering of the American flag before hearing the newly elected Governor of Boys State deliver his State of the State address.  The group later moved into the forum portion of the evening.

“I enjoyed spending Wednesday evening with the young men taking part in this year's American Legion Oklahoma Boys State program,” Bergstrom said.  “During the legislative portion of the program, I appreciated the opportunity to share the stage with my colleagues and witness these young leaders from across the state come together to learn what's involved in government and governing.”

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Please contact Sen. Micheal Bergstrom at 405-521-5561 or bergstrom@oksenate.gov for more information.

 Sen. Micheal Bergstrom (standing) addresses members of the American Legion Oklahoma Boys State in Miami at NEO A&M on Wednesday, May 30.  Also pictured is Rep. Ben Loring (seated).

Adult Literacy Program Deserves Praise, Bergstrom Talks Education

Capitol Considerations 

by Senator Micheal Bergstrom

Last week I was asked to speak to an adult literacy program at the Miami Public Library about my experience as an English teacher and the importance of reading.

I began by pointing out that it was about 20 years ago I went to work teaching English at Bluejacket High School, a job I held until my election to the Senate in 2016.

Here’s what we did in my classroom most every day.

We read. We read aloud. We read plays, short stories, novels, poetry, essays, biographies, historical documents and speeches. We used supplemental materials to assist in understanding what was read. Then my students had writing assignments. Lots of writing assignments on what we read, as well as creative writing and essays.

I assigned no busy work.

We read. Then they tested on what we read, as well as on grammar terms, literary elements and vocabulary. We did this every week.

After a while students began coming back to tell me and other students that my classes had more than prepared them for college.

Naturally, as an English teacher, I wanted my students to do well in the subject area, but even more important to me was my desire for my students to do well in life, and being able to read and write well could make their lives better.

Literacy opens doors to new possibilities and to career advancement. Reading expands your knowledge and learning to read critically helps you to gain wisdom. Research has demonstrated that reading over extended periods helps you to remain focused and concentrate on things better, which is especially important in our media-immersed culture. So, it should be no surprise that people who read are more likely to be civically involved and to vote.

As you master these skills, which are foundational for success in other areas of study, they become the bedrock for a brighter, more successful and more personally fulfilling future.

Programs like the one in Miami are changing people’s lives for the better.

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CUTLINE: Senator Micheal Bergstrom was the speaker at the Miami Public Library Adult Literacy Program's appreciation ceremony for tutors and students on Friday, May 18, 2018.

Oklahoma Legislation Update Part 1

Capitol Considerations 

by Senator Micheal Bergstrom

Miracle at the Capitol, For Now

In a period of just over 15 months, we had two regular legislative sessions and two special sessions, with the second special session continuing on concurrently during most of the last regular session. At times it felt like we were permanently stuck in Oklahoma City. What a mess. But then a miracle happened. According to the state constitution, we had to wrap up our session by the last Friday in May, the 25^th. We finished up three weeks early.

So, what did we accomplish during the last few months at the Capitol?

The big item, of course, was the teacher pay raise and the common education budget. Those two things and the revenue sources for them were set in place before the teacher walkout ever began. We were able to approve the largest teacher pay increase in our state’s history, as well as fund a pay raise for state employees, many of whom have gone nearly a decade without a pay increase. Textbooks are back to being a line item in the budget. Common education is getting a 19 percent increase in the next budget (which means it receives 52 percent of appropriated dollars in the state budget) and more students will be able to enroll concurrently in high school and college courses since we bumped that funding up by 500 percent.

Of course we had matters other than education we needed to focus on. I’ll touch on some here and then cover more in a future column.

Something I hope will help us rein in spending at state agencies is a system for forensic audits of agencies that we put in place and began funding. The commission in charge of this will be answerable to the legislature so we can search out areas of waste.

I am looking forward to taking a good hard look at the spending at the State Department of Education.

The Department of Human Services will see a $24.6 million funding increase and a fully funded Pinnacle Plan, with a 7 percent increase for Medicaid Advantage waivers, and Developmental Disability and Group Home rate increases. The agency will also see a 5 percent increase on foster care and adoption rates and $2 million increase for the Developmental Disabilities Services Division (DDSD) wait list.

This is very important for service providers like Home of Hope in my district.

The Office of Emergency Management will be given $4 million for disaster relief, while the Department of Agriculture will receive $400,000 for rural firefighters.

Criminal justice needed our attention, especially with our prisons currently at 114 percent capacity. Senate Bill 1600 allocates $11 million in criminal justice reform initiatives, including $5 million to the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, $1.1 million to Oklahoma Indigent Defense System (OIDS) and $1 million to the District Attorney’s Council. There is also $4.8 million going to the Department of Corrections (ODOC) to implement an electronic offender management system.

We’re looking for common-sense solutions to help us better address Oklahoma’s prison overcrowding by finding better ways to hold nonviolent offenders responsible. We worked on adjusting sentencing guidelines. Slowing prison population growth will allow the state to save hundreds of millions of dollars that can be redirected to education, health care, mental health services and other crucial programs.

We passed a bond issue for ODOC to make major repairs on some facilities. One facility, because of maintenance expenses, averages about $40,000 per inmate annually while the prison system overall averages under $20,000 to house inmates. The repairs should help significantly lower that first number.

We also approved a package of budget limit measures to ensure legislative oversight of agency spending. It is my hope we will be doing more and more budget limit measures and line item controls to keep agency heads from playing games with their budgets.

The budget is balanced, putting the state in its strongest fiscal position in recent history.

For now anyway.

But you remember that miracle where we finished the session early? Well, I hear there might be some folks who hope to throw the budget under the bus, maybe with a petition initiative, and so maybe it won’t be all that long before we’re back in Oklahoma City fixing another fine mess.

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Senator Bergstrom's Bills On Governor's Desk

Capitol Considerations 

by Senator Micheal Bergstrom

Legislative Update from Your Senator

Every session legislators file bills they hope to see become law.  This year, as the Senate author, I had a number of bills that have done just that.

There were, of course, some bills that did not make it to the Governor’s desk.  So first let me describe one bill that died then I’ll talk about some that survived.

Imagine you were in a profession that Oklahoma decided to begin licensing, but after the legislation was passed you were never notified that you now needed a license to operate your business, then the deadline for being grandfathered in passes and you might have to close up shop. Well, that is exactly what happened to thousands of massage therapists.

My bill, Senate Bill (SB) 1063, was originally intended to fix that issue, but then I was contacted by law enforcement, a massage therapist organization, the licensing board, and the human trafficking task force. They wanted to make sure there was language in the bill to help keep prostitution and the human trafficking, which often accompanies it, out of facilities that offer massage therapy.

We had a great bill because all those interested parties worked together with me on it. Then it bogged down in the House. Rep. Charles Ortega and I are committed to getting the bill through next year.

Now on to the living.  So far the Governor has signed six of my bills and I have two more pending. Here’s the ones that have been signed so far.

SB 1089 deals with oversize and overweight permits for transporting extra large loads on state highways, and SB 1114 requires the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) to protect the highway corridors that those extra large loads are transported over. These bills were important for bringing manufacturers into the state who were hesitant about relocating here because our legislation was outdated compared to almost every state in the nation.

These bills mean more high paying jobs for Oklahomans.

House Bill (HB) 2625 was a simple change to language referencing retired peace officers that should better protect Oklahoma citizens’ fourth amendment rights.

HB 2632 provided the same protection from civil liabilities to a church that homeowners and businesses have under the Stand Your Ground law. The purpose of this bill is to make sure places of worship cannot be sued out of existence if someone within the church uses deadly force to protect those within the church from an attacker.

More churches and church members are preparing to protect themselves if there is such an attack. I felt it was important to make sure they couldn’t be sued for trying to save lives.

HB 3311 requires a greater emphasis on Civics as the State Board of Education (SDE) revises its K-12 social studies curriculum.

SB 1566 authorizes cooperation between the Tourism Department, the Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) and SDE in the development of tourism material and educational material regarding Oklahoma’s Civil War Battlefields, including the Cabin Creek Battlefield south of Vinita.

Civil War Reenactments are becoming more and more popular and it is my hope we will see this soon begin again at the Cabin Creek Battlefield.

These materials will not only guide folks to the historic sites, but will help educate our young people on this important and fascinating part of our history.

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Oklahoma Budget Passes Senate, Some Important Highlights

Capitol Considerations 

by Senator Micheal Bergstrom

      

Budget Reflects Education Spending Increase

Less than 16 months ago the state of Oklahoma was facing a billion dollar revenue shortfall. Much of our time in the Senate was spent searching for a way to pay the state’s bills. One of my top priorities during my campaign had been to push for a teacher pay raise. I filed a bill to that effect, but as our budget numbers got worse, just keeping education from taking a budget cut became the immediate priority.

On the Senate floor on Wednesday, April 25, we passed the budget for fiscal year 2019. Revenue measures that were passed this session and the fact that our state’s economy has now recovered from the most recent recession put us in a position to give teachers the largest pay raise in state history and increase funding to the Department of Education by almost 20 percent, making this by far the largest education budget in state history. Fifty-one percent of appropriated dollars go to common education.

For the Republican caucus, this is a major success.

For Oklahoma’s children, this is important.

We once again made textbooks a line item. We raised the salaries of education support personnel. We expanded our funding for high school students who concurrently enroll in higher education.

We have accomplished much in this budget.

In addition, there is:
· $24.6 million funding increase for the Department of Human Services (DHS), which makes the Pinnacle Plan “whole.” (Hopefully moving us forward to the point where we can be released from court oversight.) This includes the following:

ü 7 percent increase for Medicaid Advantage waiver, Developmental Disability and Group Home rate increases

ü 5 percent increase on foster care and adoption rates

ü $2 million increase for the DDSD wait list (which will provide services for approximately 170 people)

· $11 million in criminal justice reform initiatives:

ü $5 million to Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services

ü $1.1 million to Oklahoma Indigent Defense System (OIDS)

ü $1 million to District Attorney’s Council

· $2 million for agency performance audits conducted by Agency Performance and Accountability Commission

· $4.8 million to Department of Corrections to implement an electronic offender management system

· $4 million to Office of Emergency Management for disaster relief (which includes $400,000 to Department of Agriculture for rural fire fighters)

When I found out the Department of Libraries had lost more than $140,000 this year because of federal claw-backs and loss of matching funds, I requested a $125,000 budget increase which should result in the Department picking up an additional $150,000 in federal matching grants. That was added to the budget.

As mentioned earlier, we have budgeted $2 million for forensic audits of state agencies. This is important. The plan is to audit every agency with a forensic audit about once every four or five years. We need to find out where waste exists and get rid of it. This is an important step forward.

The budget now goes to the House.

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Oklahoma Teacher Pay Ranks 12th in Nation, Education Remains Top Priority

    Oklahoma's teachers' average pay package (including benefits) is now the highest in the region when cost of living is taken into consideration, second highest when cost of living is not a consideration. Here is a chart that spells out the real facts. Depending on how you look at the numbers, Oklahoma's teacher pay package is now either 11th, 12th or 13th in the nation.
     The Oklahoma Republican Senate Caucus is committed to developing a long-range plan for education, perhaps something like the 8-year plan that has helped us make outstanding progress in repairing and replacing the state's highways and bridges.
   

Sources:
Teacher Salary: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d17/tables/dt17_211.60.asp?current=yes
(NCES source was National Education Association, Estimates of School Statistics. )

Cost of Living: https://www.missourieconomy.org/indicators/cost_of_living/index.stm 

Per Capita Income: https://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/regional/spi/2018/spi0318.htm    

Oklahoma Education Budget Fully Funded, Here's The Numbers. ALL Recurring revenue.

     The Oklahoma common education budget has been passed by the legislature and signed by the governor.
     Some have been claiming the budget increases are not fully funded. That is demonstrably not true.  This is ALL recurring revenue.
     Here are the numbers.

Oklahoma's Education Funding Highest In State History

Oklahoma's Common Education Budget    Largest In State History By Nearly $400

by State Senator Micheal Bergstrom

Properly funding common education and getting our public school teachers a significant pay increase has been my top priority since taking office. What we in the legislature passed last week accomplishes much of that. 

That does not mean we are through working to improve matters even more, but that is something which will be our focus beginning next session.

As you can see from the attached FY '19 Education funding graphic from the Oklahoma State School Board Association, we have increased the education budget by 19 percent, are providing the largest amount of state aid per weighted student ever, have the largest common education budget ever, beating the next highest budget by nearly $400 million.

We also gave the largest teacher pay raise in state history, making us the 12th highest teacher salary in the nation.

Now the legislature must move on to other priorities.

I appreciate the concerns of my constituents, including teachers and administrators, about the future of education in our state. With the bold steps we took last week we are creating a path for the future.

I look forward to our making even more progress together in the coming years.