Capitol Spotlight for weeklies for week of Feb. 26, 2006

Committee rejects surgery curb on optometrists
By Jim Campbell
OPA Capitol News Bureau

Few issues bring more people to the capitol or more worries for the fire marshal than the annual set-to over eye surgery between ophthalmologists and optometrists, a battle won this year by optometrists.
At a shoulder-to-shoulder hearing before the House Health and Human Services Committee, optometry advocates predicted the bill at hand would threaten eye care in rural areas and among some Indian tribes.
Committee members, some complaining of being bombarded by automated phone calls the previous weekend, voted 12-9 against House Bill 2740 by Rep. Pam Peterson, R-Tulsa, listing seven specific procedures permissible for optometrists.
 "This is a very important issue and it's not going to go away today," said Peterson, contending "that ambiguity in the law puts patients in danger."
Doug Penisten of Northeastern Oklahoma State University's College of Optometry said the bill would reduce or eliminate many NSU optometric courses and restrict access to eye care in rural Oklahoma, "particularly among Native Americans."
Ophthalmologists, medical doctors specializing in eye care, argued that non-laser surgeries are being performed by people who are not physicians.
Dr. Jack Beller, an orthopedic surgeon representing the Oklahoma State Medical Association, said the state optometry board had approved about 100 surgical procedures and that optometrists have abused their right to define procedures.
David Cockrell, a Stillwater optometrist and vice president of the Oklahoma State Board of Examiners in Optometry, said every other state allows the same procedures although they may not be defined in law as surgery.

HHH

Ending weeks of acrimonious public statements, negotiators from opposing  parties appeared together to hail a compromise $24 million package for emergency funding of state prisons including $2,800 raises for corrections workers.
What made the scowls turn to smiles, they were asked.
"We listened to each other," said Rep. John Trebilcock, R-Broken Arrow. "Maybe the Senate didn't understand what the House was saying and the House didn't understand what the Senate was saying.
"At the end of the day, people expect us to put our differences aside and do our duty," said Trebilcock, chairman of the House Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee on Public Safety and the Judiciary.
"Our courageous corrections officers continue to work in dangerous conditions," said Sen. Kenneth Corn, D-Poteau, chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Public Safety and Judiciary. "This agreement will give them all a boost in pay and allow the Department of Corrections to finally begin filling its vacant positions to create a safer environment inside and outside the walls of our state's prisons."
Beginning correctional officers currently earn just $17,500 a year.
The deal covers all employees at correctional facilities, excluding workers at administrative offices in Oklahoma City. The Senate had sought across the board raises of $3,200 covering all employees while the House proposed a minimum of $2,000 raises, granting the department discretion to give higher raises where they were most needed.
Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Morgan, D-Stillwater, and House Speaker Todd Hiett, R-Kellyville, joined in praising the bipartisan agreement and expressing hope of cooperation on other issues.
The breakthrough was announced during a break in lengthy House debate and subsequent overwhelming passage of three GOP anti-abortion measures, which likely face a rougher ride in the Democratic controlled Senate. The first obstacle is getting a committee hearing.
With the corrections deal, House and Senate leaders announced funding for immediate repair of the state's most perilous bridges and to replenish money spent fighting wildfires.
Separate bills will provide $100 million for the worst bridges, $93 million of it from an infrastructure and economic development fund set up last year, and set aside $25 million for county bridges.
The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture would receive $3.6 million to offset the cost of fighting wildfires since Nov. 1 and the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program (OHLAP) would get $4.6 million to offset a shortfall in casino gaming revenue. The agreement further includes $3.8 million for the state Supreme Court and $456,000 to support a DNA database for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

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House-approved pro-life bills include HB 2496 by Trebilcock, requiring a woman be informed her baby could experience pain at 20 weeks; HB 2614 by Rep. Kevin Calvey, R-Del City, requiring a woman be offered an ultrasound of her baby, and HB 2654 by Rep. Susan Winchester, R-Chickasha, requiring physicians who perform or treat abortions to report a schedule of information.
Many Democrats voted for the slate of bills, and the most persistent debate against them came from Republican Doug Cox of Grove, the Legislature's only physician.
Cox argued against destroying the physician-patient relationship and adding unnecessary paperwork for doctors.
"This bill is not about right to life," Cox said of one bill. "It is about more government. I don't need to tell doctors how to practice medicine. There is a medical school down the road for that. This bill is big brother at its best."
 
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