[March 10, 2006]

Legislative Roundup: Prison costs under fire; cell-phone, video-game bills advance

(Tulsa World (OK) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Mar. 10--OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Board of Corrections chairman is calling a bill that the Senate passed Thursday bad policy.

The measure would require the board to get permission from legislative leadership before passing policies that might cost money. The Department of Corrections routinely has needed supplemental appropriations.

Senate Bill 1974 by Sen. Kenneth Corn, D-Poteau, would "significantly hamstring the operations of the Department of Corrections," said Oklahoma City attorney Robert L. Rainey, the Board of Corrections' chairman.

Corn said the board is "passing policies making the cost of operating the department greater than what we have appropriated. We want to tell them no, they don't have the authority to commit the state to financial obligations without the direct authority of the Legislature."

For example, the board banned tobacco use, but in doing so, it said inmates violating the policy could lose credits, meaning they could wind up spending more time in prison.

Rainey said that policy is expected to be modified this month to reduce the amount of time an inmate who is found in violation would have to serve. He said the ban is necessary for health and operational purposes.

Corn said it is not his policy to talk to agency leaders before drafting legislation. He said he does not believe that the bill amounts to micromanaging the Department of Corrections.

Rainey said he was mystified as to why Corn hadn't sought the board's input on the measure, saying the board has continually sought lawmakers' input.

Cell phones: The Senate passed a measure that would ban people with a learner's driving permit from driving and talking on a cell phone unless they use a hands-free device.

An amendment that would have banned cell-phone use by all drivers not using a hands-free device failed.

"Here we go again, picking on kids," said Sen. Frank Shurden, D-Henryetta, who said he would support a bill by Sen. Constance Johnson, D-Oklahoma City, that would ban cell-phone use by all drivers not using a hands-free device. Johnson said her bill is expected to be heard next week.

SB 1542 by Sen. Clark Jolley, R-Edmond, now heads to the House.

Video games: Selling video games deemed "harmful to minors" would be prohibited if a bill a House committee approved survives several more hurdles. It is unclear who would determine what is considered harmful.

Rep. Rex Duncan, R-Sand Springs, said the bill is still a "work in progress."

"Video games teaching youngsters to kill cops have no re deeming social value in Oklahoma," he said. "If parents don't keep this garbage from their kids, our society will continue its march toward lawlessness and disrespect for the value of life."

House Bill 3008, approved by the Corrections and Criminal Justice Committee, would take the decision away from parents and judge the work by "contemporary community standards."

Duncan said he does not know how a community would make those decisions, although it could be similar to the test of what a community considers to be pornography.

Those decisions sometimes have ended up in court.

Shangri-La: Rep. Doug Cox, R-Grove, has won committee approval of a bill that would provide tax credits and other benefits for firms interested in building new resorts and resurrecting others, such as the Shangri-La resort on Grand Lake.

HB 2776 would help revive the convention and tourism business at the Shangri-La, Cox said Thursday.

"We have three major hoteliers looking at building a resort and convention hotel in the Grand Lake area," he said, "and the first thing they asked is, 'What kind of incentives does the state of Oklahoma have?' "

The resort has been purchased by Oklahoman Pete Boylan III, previously a major stockholder in TV Guide, Cox said.

He said Boylan "has the vision, the wherewithal, the connections and the business sense to resurrect Shangri-La, but he needs some incentives to make the transition easier."

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