The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK

Local news

Discussion

January 22, 2012

Culture and HPV

By Robert Barron, Staff Writer Enid News and Eagle

ENID — Bills filed by Enid area legislators for the 2012 Legislative session cover everything from an American Indian cultural center to the HPV virus.

State Senator Patrick Anderson said one of the bills he filed is for the state County Assessors Association. The bill limits the number of parsonages a religious organization can claim.

The issue is in the Tulsa area, some churches purchased property on Grand Lake, claimed them as parsonages and took them off the tax rolls.

Another bill filed by Anderson is for the Department of Human Services regarding child support collection and one bill relating to the American Indian Cultural Center in Oklahoma City.

“There has been a project to build a new museum going on for 10 years. There has been an attempt to get the Legislature to fund $40 million. I am opposed to that,” Anderson said.

Anderson believes the agency is mismanaged, and proposes the agency be dissolved and transferred to Oklahoma Historical Society.

“It has no building, 11 employees, a director and an executive director,” Anderson said. “It’s a complete waste of taxpayer dollars.”

Another of Anderson’s bills deals with the Oklahoma Regents for Higher Education authority to issue bonds. The regents present a list of projects to the speaker of the house, senate pro tem and governor.

“The Legislature approves the list, and they don’t know what they are. My legislation requires the project lists be given to all legislatures so there is more disclosure,” Anderson said.

State Representative John Enns also has a list of bills filed for the session. One of hisbills deal with tornado liability. If an individual allows his neighbor to use his cellar during a tornado, and the neighbor is hurt, Enns’ bill will prevent the owner from being liable.

Another bill will make knowingly transmitting human papillomavirus a crime. A transmission of HPV, which constitutes an assault if knowingly transmitted, will be added to the list of sexually transmitted diseases, he said.

“It you have HPV and know it and expose someone else, it is considered assault,” Enns said. “I’m adding HPV to that list, because of the cancer it causes. There are more than 100 HPV viruses, and one third of them cause cancer.”

Another bill would establish the Cord Blood Bank, a statewide bank where blood from umbilical cords is stored. That blood is rich in stem cells and is being used in the treatment of many different diseases. A number of other states have similar banks. Enns’ plan would add $5 to the cost of a birth certificate to set it up. It will sunset in five years, and should be self-sustaining after that.

Another bill would require handles over the head of the driver in SUVs and full-size pickups. He said beginning in 2010, those are not available, because air bags are being placed there. In Oklahoma, according to Enns’ bill, if a new vehicle is purchased, there must be an option to install the handle. The bill has the support of the paralyzed veterans groups, he said.

Enns also has introduced two gun bills this session; one would allow the spouse of a school employee entering a campus to carry a gun. The second bill would allow school boards the right to make their own carry-conceal policies.

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