We’ve just ended the 11th week of the 2025 session, and we rightly took time to observe the 30th anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing. To this day, the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building remains the worst act of domestic terrorism in our nation’s history, with 168 deaths, including 19 children. Hundreds more were injured. Men blinded by their hatred of the government committed this violence, and they dismissed their victims as nothing more than “collateral damage.” These were babies and children in a day care center. They were retirees checking on benefits at the Social Security office, and state and federal employees trying to serve their fellow citizens. They were our friends and neighbors. They were parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, wives, and husbands.
We must never forget what happened that day, or the amazing outpouring of compassion and support for the victims, their families, and the first responders that became known as the Oklahoma Standard. Unfortunately, we’ve seen lots of political speech that takes away the humanity of those who work in our government. The attack on the Murrah building shows that treating people as less than human and using violence is never the right way. I am grateful that previous lawmakers made sure that all public school students are taught about the Oklahoma City bombing. We must never forget the lessons learned from April 19, 1995.
As we move closer to the end of our work at the State Capitol for this year, I’m really pleased with some of the bills that are moving forward. Senator Mark Mann is carrying a House bill dealing with private school vouchers – a program that continues to send millions of dollars into private schools even as our public schools remain in critical need of additional funding. We’ve learned that some of these private schools now require parents to file for this voucher as a requirement for enrollment. Senate Democrats do not believe parents should be required to take a tax credit when choosing a private school. Senator Mann’s bill would not allow those kinds of rules.
This week, I carried a House bill that passed committee to address our workforce needs, specifically looking at how we prepare people with disabilities for gainful, integrated employment. You may be shocked to learn that only 35 to 44 percent of working age people with disabilities are employed. That is compared to 76 percent for people without disabilities. We want to make sure that we’re preparing everyone who can to enter the workforce, allowing them to live more full, independent lives.
Now, we will all focus more on finalizing the budget and protecting crucial programs that Oklahomans count on. One quarter of Oklahomans get Medicaid. Called SoonerCare here, Medicaid provides access to health care for many children, lowincome and working individuals and families. Cuts at the federal or state level would reduce access to that care and threaten the survival of our rural hospitals. We have immediate challenges for our mental health system, with both cuts happening now and the potential for bigger cuts in the future. Our mental health agency sent out contract cuts to current providers of addiction and mental health treatment across our state, which could have a huge negative impact. For example, the organization running the Seminole County drug court program has ended its work in the county in the last few weeks. We can assume others will be impacted as well. We are gathering more information and trying to make sure our emergency systems are still in place and people can get the care they need. The fact is, cutting such programs will cost us far more in the long run. We will keep rolling up our sleeves up and putting people over politics to fix this issue.
Oklahoma Senate Democrats are still committed to stand up for our communities and a budget that solves real problems.