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March 5, 2010
Reconciliation Process May Be Used For Federal Healthcare Reform – This week, President Obama endorsed utilizing the “reconciliation” process in order to pass healthcare reform within the next couple of weeks. The reconciliation process is traditionally utilized when considering contentious budget bills (not policy measures) without the threat of a filibuster. The anticipated process would be the House passing the healthcare reform bill passed by the Senate in December. The House and the Senate would then use reconciliation to pass a set of “fixes” to the bill in order to satisfy the demands of lawmakers in the House. Such “fixes” would only need a simple majority (51 votes) in the Senate to pass rather than the super-majority (60 votes) needed when voting on the original measure. Zogby Poll Finds Americans Divided About What Ails Washington – A Zogby Interactive Poll of 2,068 adults nationwide conducted last month finds contrasting opinions about the actions, beliefs and behaviors of elected officials in Washington. The survey found that nearly half (49 percent) are more likely to cite Congress’ "passing bad bills" as more of a problem than getting nothing done (37 percent). By nearly the same margin (48 percent), believe politicians "fighting too much" is more problematic than their being "cozy" to each other rather than sticking to their principles (39 percent). Lastly, 50 percent are more bothered by people in Washington "who think they are smarter than the rest of us" than they are by "partisan bickering" (41 percent). EPA Extends Dioxin Regulation Comment Period - The EPA extended the comment period for the Draft Recommended Interim Preliminary Remediation Goals (PRGs) for cleaning up dioxin in the soil. These new standards could have unintended consequences for both individuals and businesses. To learn more about this issue, click here. If this issue is important to you, time is of the essence. The comment period has only been extended until April 2, 2010. Please send your comments to: Mathy Stanislaus, Ph.D. - Assistant Administrator - Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. - Washington DC 20460. First Round Finalists of “Race to the Top” Grant Funds Announced – The U.S. Department of Education has named 16 finalists in the first round of their "Race to the Top" competition which will deliver $4.35 billion in school reform grants. Selected Thursday from a pool of 41 applicants were: Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Tennessee. The winners will be chosen in April. The State Chamber provided a letter of support for Oklahoma’s grant request. Although Oklahoma was not chosen, a second round will begin in June which will bring another opportunity to request “Race to the Top” grants designed to reward and spur states to lift student achievement by developing strong standards, maintaining and incentivizing high-quality teachers in the classroom, and turning around low-performing schools.
Women Entrepreneurs Inspire Conference Set For Tuesday, March 30th - The Riata Center for Entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State University will present the first annual Women Entrepreneurs Inspire Conference in Oklahoma City at the Cox Convention Center on Tuesday, March 30th. The one-day event offers opportunities to:
For more information, and to register, click here. For questions, contact Mary Means. Plan Now To Attend NanoFocus 2010, Early Bird Registration Ends March 12th - Come to NanoFocus 2010 on April 1-2 and find out about all the exciting new companies and research happening in Oklahoma. A significant part of the conference will focus on Nano Applications for Energy: Batteries, Natural Gas, Oil, Solar and Wind, but there will also be presentations on other nano topics. Get all the details at www.oknano.com, click on the NanoFocus button. The NanoFocus Conference registration price goes up after March 12th, and the great room rate that the Sheraton Midwest City is offering ($84) expires on March 17th. The deadline for nano poster registration is March 12th. 27th Annual Oklahoma World Trade Conference Set For Wednesday, April 14th - The Oklahoma District Export Council, in coordination with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, is hosting the 27th Annual Oklahoma World Trade Conference April 14th at the Hilton Inn, Tulsa Southern Hills. For additional information, and secure on-line registration and credit card payment, click here. State HR Conference Scheduled - The 2010 Oklahoma Human Resources Conference and Expo will be held at the Renaissance Hotel in Tulsa on May 5 - 7. This year's theme, Setting the Course, says it all. The conference will have everything you need to set your course and succeed in the HR profession, including sessions about current HR topics, a variety of HR products and services, and many opportunities to network with other Oklahoma human resource professionals. Register online by clicking here.
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U.S. Senate Approves Extension Of Highway Trust Fund Authority – The U. S. Senate approved a bill, Tuesday night, to extend legal authority for the Highway Trust Fund for 30 days, sending the legislation to President Obama, who has now signed it. The president’s signature on HR 4691 will end a shutdown of the trust fund and the furlough of 2,000 U.S. Department of Transportation employees that occurred, Monday, after the fund’s authority to spend money expired, Sunday. In addition to extending Highway Trust Fund authorization, the measure extends several other provisions of law that expired, Sunday, including additional unemployment benefits for Americans who have run out of the standard six-month jobless payments, and boosting Medicare reimbursement payments for doctors. 
We Need Your Help! These are crucial political times, and we can’t afford to let the politicians make decisions without the strong voice of The State Chamber. The more members we have, the stronger the voice. Please recommend a few of your business associates, clients, or vendors to join The State Chamber. Click 
Monday Is the Deadline to Register for the Unmanned Aerial Systems Summit - The Unmanned Aerial Systems Summit will be held in Lawton on March 23rd. The deadline for UAS Summit registration is Monday, March 8th. For additional information on the summit, including the agenda, click 
The Society of Professional Journalists, Oklahoma chapter, presented Patrick B. McGuigan, editor of CapitolBeatOK, eight awards at the group’s annual banquet. McGuigan landed one first-place award, five second-place designations and two third-place honors. Click 
