As most other states struggle to maintain the status quo, Oklahoma is on the rise as a destination to do business and raise a family. Our state added more than 40,000 jobs in the past year, the economy is growing and unemployment remains below the national average. We're in a good spot. With a little work, we can be in a great spot.

Taking Oklahoma from good to great is the goal this legislative session.

Last year, the Legislature successfully enacted several significant pro-growth policies. While we're proud of these accomplishments, we must now build on the achievements.

To start, we must reform our tax credit system. There is no rhyme or reason to the process the legislature uses to create tax credits for businesses. The result is a tax code that looks like a block of Swiss cheese riddled with random holes and cutouts. Many of these holes and cutouts are credits that cost taxpayers more than the credits generate in economic benefit. That's unacceptable. This session, tax credit criteria have been proposed to ensure tax credits actually create jobs and a net economic benefit greater than the credit's cost to taxpayers. By doing this, up to $300 million in savings could be realized and returned to taxpayers as a growth-spurring tax reduction.

Fixing the tax credit system is step one of the many steps it will take to generate meaningful tax relief for all working Oklahomans. Tax relief spurs growth, and with Oklahoma already moving in the right direction, we have a transformative opportunity to expand and expedite that growth by lowering and phasing out our personal income tax.

Another critical component of income tax reduction will be continued improvements in government efficiency. As fiscal conservatives, we are always looking for ways to root out waste and create efficiencies in state government. Consolidating agencies that serve similar functions and implementing technology-driven services that are more efficient and cost-effective will continue to be a priority. Working toward this goal, we will reject the shortsighted notion that state government has to look and operate precisely as it has for decades. Government can do better, and in the process Oklahoma can thrive.

Of course, there are those who think reducing the income tax can't be done, or that we're out to gut government. Nothing could be further from the truth. We're committed to building a better, more efficient government that provides core services the public needs. We know that by growing our economy and being better stewards of our state's resources, core state services can be adequately funded through increased state revenues and more efficient management.

Pursuing pro-growth initiatives means planning for the future. That's why we will also focus on long-range water planning, continued pension system and DHS reforms and a statewide public safety plan that will reduce crime and make better use of taxpayer dollars. All these initiatives are intrinsically linked to being a pro-growth state.

Oklahoma has more momentum and potential than ever before. As a Legislature, we will do everything we can to take Oklahoma from good to great.

Southwest Tulsa along with North Tulsa and the Utica corridor will get small area plans and the kickoff meeting will be on Feb. 28 at the Greenwood Cultural Center, 322 N. Greenwood Ave.

The doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and the program starts at 6 p.m. with a question and answer session to follow. This is open to the public and residents, property owners and all interested parties in and near the three small plan areas are encouraged to attend.

These small area plans will help define what the community would like to see in these areas and give the city a roadmap of where we need to go.

The boundaries for the Southwest Tulsa plan are 61st to 91st, S. 33rd West Avenue to South Elwood. The Utica corridor plan is for S. Utica between 11th Street and 21st Street, and the North plan will focus on the area around 36th Street North and North Cincinnati.

The process has six steps, but the first one, defining the boundaries, was set by the previous City Council.

Steps 2-6 will be: 2. Community participation with an advisory committee, workshops to develop a SWAT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis, surveys and open houses.

3. Assessment where an inventory of existing features, land uses, transportation, neighborhoods, education centers etc. is compiled.

4. A vision statement that answers the question "what do we want this area to be in 10 to 20 years."

5. Civic responsibilities and city wide context which means whatever the plan does it must not hurt other parts of the city to accomplish the plan.

6. Plan recommendations which would address the perceived weaknesses and present solutions.

So how do you get involved? Come out and hear the presentation and if you are concerned about what this city will look like, get signed up and work to improve our city.

If you can't make the meeting, go to www.planiTulsa.com for more details and I will keep you posted.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, not just in District 2 but any part of the City, please contact me at 918-596-1922, E-mail me at dist2@tulsacounil.org or mail questions to Jeannie Cue, 175 E. 2nd St. 4th Floor, Tulsa, OK 74103.

We have now completed our second week of the legislative session. One of the key issues being addressed is water policy. In our SW Tulsa/Jenks/Glenpool area, we may tend to take our water for granted. However, it is a precious resource and we must establish policy to protect it.

House water policy proposals this session will include increasing water monitoring, establishing regional water planning groups, improving water infrastructure funding programs, and encouraging more water conservation and reuse.

Legislative leaders in June formed the Joint Water Committee, which spent the interim studying Oklahoma water policy, water law, tribal water issues and more. The committee received the recommendations of the Oklahoma Comprehensive Water Plan (OCWP) that was formally delivered to the Legislature in October.

To improve Oklahoma's water planning capabilities, House Bill 2914 would establish 13 regional water planning groups. With every region of Oklahoma having different water needs, regional planning groups will help policymakers take all needs into account when making water decisions.

Another foundational component of water planning is water monitoring, the practice of regularly gathering data to determine the quantity and quality of surface and groundwater in basins statewide. Currently, Oklahoma is not conducting as much water monitoring as experts recommend, leading to a shortage of accurate data to inform water management decisions. For example, 36 of the state's 87 groundwater basins either entirely lack critical monitoring studies or are past due for updated studies that are required at least every 20 years.

House leaders will seek to allocate more funding for water monitoring and related activities through this year's appropriations process.

Oklahoma will have an estimated $82 billion in drinking water and wastewater infrastructure needs in the next 50 years, mostly in rural areas and small-to-medium sized communities that lack local funding to pay for such projects. Local communities often obtain loan and grant assistance from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board for such projects, but OWRB's current infrastructure financing programs are only capable of handling about 10 percent of these projected needs.

In an effort to better prepare the state to address those needs, House leaders are working with OWRB officials to reform the agency's infrastructure financing programs.

Under the reforms being discussed, those programs could meet up to 60 percent of future needs rather than the 10 percent they meet today.

According to analysis in the OCWP, consumptive water use in Oklahoma is expected to increase 33 percent by 2060 if policies remain unchanged.

However, the OCWP projects Oklahoma could maintain its current water consumption levels for another 50 years through effective conservation techniques, improving the use of existing water supplies and expanding the use of alternative water supplies.

To encourage more water conservation statewide, House leadership has proposed the Water for 2060 Act, which establishes a statewide goal of consuming no more fresh water in 2060 than is consumed today.

Under House Bill 3055, the Water for 2060 Act, an existing OWRB grant program would fund pilot projects to help residents and water districts improve water conservation practices.

HB 3055 also creates the Water for 2060 Advisory Council, which by 2015 would make specific recommendations to the governor and Legislature on how the state can ensure it consumes no more water in 2060 than it does in 2012.

Among the other water conservation proposals this year is HB 2385, which gives homeowners more flexibility to reuse gray water on their property.

Gray water is water left over from domestic activities like laundry, dishwashing and bathing that is safe for reuse in irrigation activities like watering flowerbeds or lawns.

One other piece of legislation voted on this past week was to change the governor's role in the parole process.

The full House voted 81-7 to approve Senate Joint Resolution 25, a constitutional amendment removing the governor from the parole process for nonviolent offenses.

As a result, a state question allowing voters to decide whether to approve the constitutional amendment will be placed on the November 2012 ballot. The resolution passed the Senate unanimously last year.

Oklahoma is currently the only state in the country requiring the governor to approve every parole. It has been estimated that removing the governor from the parole process for nonviolent offenders could save the state more than $40 million in the next 10 years.

SJR 25 would amend the state Constitution to give the Pardon and Parole Board the power to review and decide parole requests for nonviolent offenders. Violent crimes would still be reviewed by the governor.

According to the state Department of Corrections, incarceration of an inmate costs an average of $16,000 a year. A 2007 audit by MGT found that, on average, there is a hundred day delay in the governor's review of paroles, costing the state an average of $4,700 per inmate even though those individuals are ultimately released.

Until next time. Glen

Jenks is a "boomtown." Not that big of a stretch when you consider our total population has almost doubled in the last 10 years from 9,500 to 17,000; issued over 3,000 residential building permits; and seen many new developments like the Oklahoma Aquarium, Riverwalk Crossing, Village on Main, Elm Street Market, and Reasor's changing the entrance gateways to our city.

A fun way to get a bird's eye view of this progression is with Google Earth. If you have never used it before, it's worth taking some time to figure it out. You can go anywhere in the world with just a computer, keyboard, and a mouse. The view is exceptional and so clear. My daughter always has to go visit our house to see if she was playing in the yard when the satellite passed over.

One of the most impressive things about Google Earth is the "Time Slider" option allowing you to travel back in time to view past maps. Just type in Jenks, Okla. to view today's map and then use the slider to fly back to 1999. It is pretty amazing to see how our footprint has changed in little more than 10 years.

So is Jenks a "boomtown?" The basic definition of a boomtown is "one that experiences overnight expansion and is often dependent on the single activity or resource that is causing the boom (e.g. nearby mine, mill or resort)." Does this sound like Jenks?

If you consider great people a valuable resource, maybe the answer is yes. Much of our growth over the last decade is the result of a foundation laid by past generations: educators who have built one of the best school districts in the nation; city leaders who developed a forward-looking comprehensive plan to manage the growth and maintain our small town appeal; churches that have strengthened our moral foundation; and citizens who have stepped up whenever needed to offer a hand to a neighbor, a city, and a country. Yes, when it comes to the character of our people, our city is most definitely a "boomtown."

Speaking of Jenks being a "boomtown," that may just be the word of the day come this July 4. On the agenda at this week's city council meeting was a hearing that requested the council to review draft policy recommendations to establish a fireworks permit for the use of fireworks in the City of Jenks and conformity for Fireworks retailing installations. This is a process we have seen implemented in several surrounding cities over the past several years and received repeated requests from citizens to consider.

At the council's direction, this draft policy will be reviewed over the next couple of months to determine the potential for allowing the sale and use of fireworks within the City of Jenks. Input will be compiled from citizens, police, fire, city staff, and the planning commission. In the initial draft, basic provisions for the issuance of a permit will cost $20 for individuals and $50 for multiple adjacent household groups to discharge fireworks within the city.

I'm not sure about your neighborhood, but there have been more than a few fireworks set off in mine to celebrate our nation's independence, most by upstanding citizens who have no desire to break the law or risk the safety of their children, friends or neighbors. It is my hope that this review process will finally give our city an opportunity to put an ordinance in place that addresses public safety but affords our citizens the legal means to enjoy a family fireworks show. Please E-mail me any comments or concerns to lonniesims4jenks@gmail.com.

For those hoping to catch a glimpse of an Olympic hopeful, don't miss the Speedo Champions Series Central Section Region VIII Championships coming March 1-4 at the new Jenks Trojan Aquatic Center. Featuring the top regional powerhouse teams, this is the final qualifying meet before the US Olympic trials in the summer of 2012.