OICA Continues Advocacy on Children's Bills

As the Oklahoma Legislature enters its second month of work, there has been much progress made on the proposals the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) supports. We deeply thank all the lawmakers for their work on the many bills going through the committee process and those which have advanced for consideration by either the full House of Representatives or Senate. We encourage you to reach out to your lawmakers if you feel strongly about a topic. A few calls from “back home” truly can make a difference on whether a legislator votes for or against a bill. Many ideas have already been shelved for the year because anticipated revenues are significantly less than lawmakers had last year. Combined with inflation, even some noble concepts simply will not make it through the process. One such idea was in House Bill 2935 by Emily Gise, R-OKC. This would have created a sales tax exemption for the purchase of infant diapers. I have been told that the citizen behind this idea is looking for another bill to attach this as an amendment, so it is possible this concept might become a law, but the original bill will not move forward. HB 1979 by Rep. Trish Ranson, D-Stillwater, would create an Early Childhood Task Force to assess improved efficiency for delivery of early childhood services by consolidating different divisions of youth-serving agencies into one new freestanding state department. A similar bill, Senate Bill 1570 filed by Sen. Paul Rosino, R-OKC, would create a consolidated agency by September of this year which would house the Office of Juvenile Affairs, the Child Welfare Division of Oklahoma Human Services, and other such divisions within agencies. Both bills have garnered much attention and remain alive. Another bill, one which OICA has worked on for three sessions now, is moving forward in the form of Senate Bill 1708 by Sen. Darcy Jech, R-Kingfisher and Rep. Mark Tedford, R-Jenks. This legislation would create a rebuttable presumption in divorce cases that joint custody and equally shared parenting time is in the best interest of the child. Data clearly show that the loss of time with a parent impairs the well-being of children. Too often children are used as pawns during a divorce to punish a parent by continually forcing them into court for custody cases. Senate Bill 1591 by Senator Rosino and Rep. Carl Newton, R-Cherokee, would limit THC amounts in certain medical marijuana products and prohibit packaging which could mistakenly look like candy. There has been a significantly elevated number of cases where children have been taken to emergency rooms due to ingesting these products, so there is hope this will help protect children from harm caused by not safely and properly storing such items by adults. Senate Bill 1806 by Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, would raise the age from 18 to 21 for extended services to Oklahomans transitioning from foster care into adulthood. Research shows that these youth, due to being in the system, have a much tougher time of coping with the adjustment of self-sustaining success once they reach adulthood. This bill would allow for three additional years to provide support for them to achieve successful independence. Finally, we are pleased to report that House Bill 1484 by Rep. Ronny Johns, R-Ada, and Sen. Darrell Weaver, R-Moore, named “Rain’s Law,” has been signed by the governor. This law requires instruction in schools on fentanyl and how to prevent abuse. We at OICA have high hopes this new law will help reduce needless death and harm caused by this deadly illicit drug. I will continue to update you in future columns about these and other bills. You can follow our policy report in our free weekly newsletter every Thursday by subscribing on our website at https://www.oica.org . Please join us for our Child Advocacy Day & Chili Cook-Off at the State Capitol on Tuesday, March 10!

Last week, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a well-known political figure who first got his start in the public eye by working with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and later ran for the Presidency of the United States of America, passed after a long health battle. I am fortunate that there are only a few instances I can look back on my life, and especially my career, and feel regret over something. One such instance was how I handled issues related to race during my time in elected office. Reverend Jackson’s death sparked such a memory. I met Reverend Jackson twice. The first was when he was in Oklahoma City promoting storm shelters for schools thanks to my good friend, attorney David Slane. The second time, we dined at a local restaurant, along with former state Sen. Connie Johnson. I was fascinated to hear them converse about their experiences with fairness and equality, and while much had been overcome, there was still much to resolve. I grew up in a small town and there were not many folks who looked too different from me, a white kid. Occasionally, a minority family moved to town, but they often did not stay. They were not run out of town as might have happened in the past in some communities, but they certainly did not fully engage, likely due to racial barriers. In college, I had the opportunity to have a roommate who was Black and another who was Indonesian; I never at any point felt we were in any way different. For that, I thank my mother and other influences in my life who ensured that I did not hold views that people were in any way different because of skin color. We live in a changing world, and I do feel that the issue of race is being broken down with each generation, but there are obviously still problems. Part of this comes from those who are overtly racist without care, some from those who do not realize they are being offensive simply out of ignorance, and others who judge rather than attempt to grow beyond that prejudice. Mind you, I am not saying we should not condemn racism; we should, wholeheartedly. The fact remains the practice of solely judging an individual based on their skin color rather than the content of their character exists in our world. It is only through education, empathy, and understanding that this destructive bias will be overcome. I had my photo taken with Reverend Jackson, but I did not get a copy – intentionally. The reason was out of my fear that a photo of me with such a polarizing figure would hurt me in my election efforts. Politicians are risk averse, and I was conditioned into this due to an earlier incident where a person told me, point-blank, that they had looked for a photo of me with former President Barack Obama to run with editorials attacking my views. There was only one reason for that: to alienate people who would have viewed such a photo of us together as a negative and which would have encouraged them to vote against me due to that association. I am not only ashamed of myself for avoiding those photo opportunities, but also that I did not use that platform to influence conversations over division. Now, I realize that I should have proudly displayed that photo and used it to break down those barriers. Today, I have moved beyond my fear of what people think regarding disagreements with me on matters of race. I instead try to influence them to a different outlook, and I appreciate David, Reverend Jackson, and all those who helped me understand the barriers faced by so many. Thank you to those who gave me grace as I have aged into what I believe is a better person. It would be easy to condemn me, but that dialogue helped me grow. I hope that you will take these thoughts with you and do better than I did back then

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Most legislative committees are finishing their work on bills in the houses of origin this week at the State Capitol. This is the time when thousands of bills die without ever being considered. What certainly will move forward though is a host of ideas to improve children’s literacy rates. Many members of the legislative leadership have bills they hope will help younger children who are not reading at grade level by third grade and improve math comprehension among students at older grade levels. Most agree that students must “learn to read before they read to learn.” To achieve this, no law can fix the initial problem. Parents must read with their children long before they enter Kindergarten or Pre-K, and reading with their children should continue as a daily ritual during the school year when parents help children with their homework. According to a National Literacy Trust study from 2024, 50.5% of parents read with their children daily, a 15-point drop from 2019. While daily reading is lower, most parents do read to their children, but often on a less consistent basis (weekly rather than daily). Likewise, while 73% to 77% of parents with children under five begin reading to their children before age one, the frequency often drops as children get older. Equally concerning is that an estimated 39% of American nine-year-olds in 2022 reported that they read for fun almost every day, which is down from 53% in 2012, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. In that same survey, just 14% of 13-year-olds surveyed reported reading for fun almost daily, down from 27% in 2012. Many folks yearn to return to the days when they were in school or for an idealistic visualization of schools prior to their time. The fact is times have changed, and certainly not always for the better. Families today face issues at a higher rate than previous generations, such as an increase in single-parent homes, a struggle for households to keep up with bills that necessitate not only parents working longer hours in jobs, but sometimes for their children to contribute financially with the jobs they hold. There was a time when a single income could support a family. Wages have not kept up with prices and now it takes two or more incomes to meet most families’ needs. On top of that, scarce access to health insurance, and identified struggles with those in the household, such as mental health issues or addiction, are also obstacles to student success. So, I wonder, are we asking teachers today to do more with the children coming to them when students are not as prepared to learn as in the past? Sadly, the answer is, “Yes.” I hope this reality is weighed by lawmakers when considering legislation they hope improves students’ reading comprehension or face grade-level retention. There are many ideas other than educational issues gaining traction at the State Capitol, and we at the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) are directly engaged with several of these issues. Guided by the “Children’s Legislative Agenda” developed from concepts shared by advocates at our Fall Forum policy conference, we are working with lawmakers on a host of subjects. OICA is also lending support to other ideas through collaborative efforts with partner organizations who also engage at the State Capitol. We need your help to see success though. I want to invite each of you to our Child Advocacy Day at the Oklahoma State Capitol on Tuesday, March 10, which is also the day for our annual chili cook-off for child-serving organizations and advocates. This means if you show up to be a citizen lobbyist that day, you will also get a great meal! We hope you can schedule the day off and join us as we work together to move great ideas into action to improve the lives of Oklahoma’s children. 

Students from the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) Youth Governors programs took the oath of office for their one-year terms on Monday, Feb. 2, at a ceremony at the Oklahoma State Capitol. Pictured are (from left to right) Joe Dorman, CEO of OICA; Cathleen Taylor, Oklahoma 4-H Youth Development; Victoria Justice, 4-H Youth Junior Cabinet Member from Depew; Riley Rudder, 4-H Junior Secretary of State from Fort Towson; Whitlee Moser, 4-H Junior Lieutenant Governor from Perkins; Riley Braden, 4-H Junior Governor from Bristow; Oklahoma’s Kid Governor Katelyn Talley from Valliant; Kid Lieutenant Governor Sophia Chavarria Rivera from Bethany; Kid Secretary of State Daphne Tanequodle from Lawton; and, Licia Walters, OICA Program Director and Oklahoma State Coordinator for Kid Governor. (Courtesy Photo) OKLAHOMA CITY – While most attention at the Oklahoma State Capitol on Monday, February 2nd went to convening the 2nd Session of the 60th Legislature, a pair of youth governor programs sponsored by the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) administered the oaths of office for their 2026 leaders. OICA is pleased to coordinate year-long activities for the Oklahoma Kid Governor program, operated in conjunction with the Connecticut Democracy Center, and the Oklahoma 4-H Junior Governor program for 4th, 5th, and 6th graders enrolled in 4-H. For a little more about Kid Governor and the work we do, this civics education program immerses students in lesson plans and a real election to select a 5th grader who will serve a one-year term of active leadership. Our current Kid Governor was selected from 1,187 Oklahoma participating students. Each student candidate selected an issue on which to run, and the classroom voted for their favorite. The winner then recorded a two-minute campaign video which was submitted into the statewide competition. From that, a panel comprised of Oklahoma’s former governors – David Walters, Frank Keating, Brad Henry, and Mary Fallin – and OICA board members narrowed the field to the finalists. The campaign videos for the finalists were shared with each participating classroom or school library program, a total of 37 from across the state. The election was timed to coincide with Election Day last November, and students cast their votes on ballots which resemble the actual Oklahoma ballots. Oklahoma’s Kid Governor for 2026 is Katelyn Talley, a 5th grader from Valliant in southeastern Oklahoma. Her platform is animal abuse prevention. The Kid Lieutenant Governor is Sophia Chavarria Rivera, a 5th grader from Bethany, and her platform is the prevention of bullying. The Kid Secretary of State is Daphne Tanequodle, a 5th grader from Lawton, who was elected with a platform of addressing homelessness. For our other set of young leaders, OICA co-sponsored a conference in October with 4-H that brought 72 interested 4-H students together in Stillwater. They learned about state government and then elected the Junior Governor and Junior Cabinet. 2026 Junior Governor Riley Braden is from Bristow in Creek County. Riley is home schooled and ran on a platform to protect and promote the sanctity of life. Junior Lieutenant Governor is Whitlee Moser from Perkins in Payne County. Whitlee attends Perkins Tryon Intermediate School and ran on a platform of education. Junior Secretary of State is Riley Rudder from Fort Towson. Riley attends Rattan Elementary in Pushmataha County and ran on a platform of turtle conservation The Junior Cabinet Member is Victoria Justice from Depew in Creek County. Victoria is homeschooled and her platform is to prevent debt collectors from making spam calls. Toolkits consisting of free, custom-designed lesson plans reflecting Oklahoma’s system of state government help guide instructors through the program, the history and process of voting, and the importance of active participation in civic life. Students choose their campaign issues on their own with guidance and support from the local teacher or 4-H leader. The students also received a complimentary comic book, Mighty Mia and Dyna-Bit Save Democracy, that was written by me, with editing and artwork done by Literati Press in Oklahoma City. OICA underwrites the cost of the program, mileage reimbursement for the families for traveling to speeches and events, and distribution of the books through donations. We are very pleased to work with each of these seven ladies over this next year to help them promote their selected campaign policies. We will host them at the State Capitol to further visit with lawmakers before the legislative session concludes and also have them attend our annual Heroes Ball in July. For more information about how you can help support the Kid Governor program or the 4-H Junior Governor program, contact us at info@oica.org or call (405) 236-KIDS (5437). 

The logo for the 2026 OICA Child Advocacy Day and Chili Cook-Off was designed by Amber Integrated, an Oklahoma City public affairs and strategic communications firm. The image recalls the famous “The Spirit of ‘76” painting in which patriots marched with a fife and drums during the American Revolution. The image ties into the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy’s year-long celebration of the United States’ 250 th birthday. In just over a month, child advocates and chili cooks from across Oklahoma will gather at the Oklahoma State Capitol for the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) Child Advocacy Day and Chili Cook-Off. The annual event is designed to give advocates face-to-face interactions with legislators and policy leaders during a casual event with some of the best chili in Oklahoma to bring them all together. This week, OICA unveiled its logo for the event, created in partnership with Amber Integrated, an Oklahoma City-based public affairs and strategic communications firm, and a top sponsor of the Chili Cook-off. “The talented artists at Amber Integrated did a great job with this year’s logo,” said Joe Dorman, OICA CEO. “It flows perfectly with our theme for the year, honoring the 250th birthday of the United States.” The logo depicts the mascots of the Democratic, Republican, and Libertarian parties – the donkey, elephant, and hedgehog – marching together playing the fife and drums, a nod to the Revolutionary War painting entitled “The Spirit of ’76.” “While children’s policy should not be partisan in nature, the officials who we work with to shape ideas do run under a party nomination,” said Dorman. “We use this event each year to remind those officials that the success of the children of our state should come first and by working together, better things will occur for future generations.” OICA also announced that Oklahoma youth-serving organizations or individuals may register to participate by cooking chili at a table that allows them to display about the work that they do, and that sponsorships are now available for the event. “This is an excellent way for our advocates to engage in the process and share their stories,” Dorman said. “We encourage organizations who want to connect with officials to use this opportunity to join us at the Capitol and begin that process of building relationships and offer themselves as a resource, and if they cannot join, please consider sponsoring so their name can appear on the back of the event t-shirt with the event logo on the front. “We share a commitment that on this one day, in this building of the people, we can lay the foundation for better outcomes for Oklahoma kids while celebrating the 250th birthday of our nation,” Dorman concluded. For anyone who might wish to enter or sponsor the Child Advocacy Chili Cook-Off, they should contact Brenna Leeds, OICA Development Director, at bleeds@oica.org or by calling OICA at 405-236-KIDS (5437), extension 3, or interested parties can go to oica.org/2026-chili-cookoff and select sponsorship or entry.

Katelyn Tally (center front) of Valliant takes the oath of office as Oklahoma’s Kid Governor for 2026 during a State Capitol ceremony on Mon., Feb. 2. Katelyn is surrounded by her mother Jessica Fulgham (front left) and father, Brandon Talley, as she takes the oath. Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Noma Gurich administered the oath. Courtesy Photo by OICA (Katelyn Talley KG 2026)

I told someone the other day that this time of year is when I am most optimistic for our state to see better, but that I am also highly concerned about what direction Oklahoma will go through policy. On Monday, February 2, Oklahoma saw the Second Session of the 60th Oklahoma Legislature commence. Lawmakers convened to officially begin business for 2026 by conducting the “first reading” of bills by announcing the bill number associated with the filed legislation. This term is spelled out in Oklahoma’s Constitution, requiring each bill to have three readings, with one only occurring every 24 hours. This is a protection for the people allowing them to mobilize should a bill be controversial, rallying support or opposition before reaching the desk of the governor. “Readings” of a bill are called such because the bill’s title, number, and content in earlier days were read aloud to the legislative body, a tradition originating before widespread literacy and the ability to photocopy bills. Now, a motion is submitted stating the bills are considered as read thanks to improvements in both those areas. On Tuesday, legislators will hear the “second reading” of the bills filed, announcing to which committee bills are assigned for consideration. Once bills pass out of committee and go to a hearing in the full house of origin (House bills in the House of Representatives, Senate bills in the Senate), then they will reach the “third reading” and be up for passage by the entire membership of the body. The process is then repeated in the opposite body. If agreement cannot be reached between the bodies, it goes to further negotiation in a conference committee later in the session. The bill will be considered on a “fourth reading,” and it cannot be amended but simply passed or sent back for further conference. So, the quickest a bill can pass is five calendar days due to three readings with 24 hours in each of the two bodies, with the third reading in the first house overlapping with the first reading in the other. I will say that it rarely happens for something to pass that quickly. In the coming weeks, I will outline the different issues which will highlight this session, including education policies to improve early learning skills, issues tied around the federal “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which shifts cost burdens on many programs to the states, the likely reduction of expendable revenue as compared to last year’s amounts due to tax cuts and other economic issues, the increased costs facing several state agencies, and the priority bills pursued by OICA. I was pleased with several bills which were submitted that align with our “Children’s Legislative Agenda” as built by attendees to our annual Fall Forum conference and through the efforts of our board members to provide ideas for policymakers, lawmakers, and state agencies, to improve conditions for the youth of Oklahoma. We have had our team going through the submissions by lawmakers and with those bills which carried over from the previous session, which is allowed only over a two-year period in the first and second sessions of each Legislature. In total, there are more than 350 bills which have been submitted that we have on our tracking list, with almost that many carrying over from last year. We hope you will follow this column and our weekly newsletter, which you can sign up for at https://www.oica.org to receive on Thursdays. OICA Policy Director Greg Sawyer writes a weekly update on many of the bills which we are following to allow our advocates to learn more and use as a tool to effectively engage in policies important to them. Next week, I will cover events from our Kid Governor and 4-H Junior Governor program as we held their inaugurations following the governor’s speech and the adjournment of the Legislature on that first day. 

The conversation of immigration continues to weigh heavily on many Americans, especially following the death of a Minnesotan over the weekend who was protesting. Eight people have been killed since the ramp up of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) going back to the beginning of the Trump Administration, which includes officers, civilians and those investigated, with an additional 32 people confirmed to have died in custody. On one side, you have those who are passionate about the need for people to earn citizenship if they want to live in this nation, compared to those who view the laws as too rigid: unjustly preventing the opportunity to live here as a documented resident while seeking legal status, having committed no crime other than being here. Data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University shows a significant majority of individuals in ICE detention nationally have no criminal convictions (70%). In Oklahoma, according to This Land Press in an article published in September, 1,994 people were flagged and booked across Oklahoma. At least 440 of those passed through the Tulsa County Jail, with 80% having no prior convictions, according to reporting by KOSU. Of course, there are opposing stories generated claiming those percentages are not accurate. This effort has been aided by a federal program called “287(g) agreements,” a contract with local law enforcement agencies to assist and oftentimes provide detainment facilities with signed partnerships which allocate federal funding to the local law enforcement agency. The Tulsa Sheriff’s office has been a part of this program since 2009, making it one of the first to participate, with dozens more departments signing up just last year. While this program might anger many, collaboration with local law enforcement does provide personnel who have undergone much longer training with proper deescalation protocols than recently hired ICE agents receive. Many have been put into the field after only 47 days of instructional training per new guidelines. An AP-NORC poll conducted recently revealed President Trump’s approval ratings on immigration had dropped to 38% nationally, and a Quinnipiac poll found 57% of Americans disapproved of ICE’s enforcement of immigration laws. In contrast, this also shows how many people approve of these policies. I will note that these are national polls, and I suspect that favorability is much higher in Oklahoma. One overwhelming sentiment though is support for children. We as a nation should not place any children in cages with only a silver-colored blanket as a possession, and yes, that has been the case with both parties over the past three administrations. I ask our elected officials of both parties and law enforcement to do better. Gov. Kevin Stitt summed it up best on Sunday by saying, “We have to stop politicizing this. We need real solutions for immigration reform.” Senator Lankford worked on an immigration policy which was cast aside. No others have shown the fortitude to continue that discussion. I also do not want to see any more deaths. Am I angry, depressed, frustrated and disillusioned? Yes. I have peacefully participated in marches, walks, and protests throughout my life, hoping it would influence policy. I never feared for my life. Participating in peaceful protests is a constitutional right guaranteed to us no matter what side of the issue you support, as long as it remains nonviolent and does not obstruct law enforcement. But, while protesting might generate stories and make someone feel involved by bringing pressure to policymakers, the ultimate power we have as Americans is at the ballot box. If you don't vote because a candidate doesn’t “check all the boxes” for you, then you allow other people to choose for you who will decide policy decisions, including immigration.