Senate Review by Senator Roland Pederson

It was an honor to recently welcome Governor Kevin Stitt to District 19 to visit with innovative businesses in Enid who’ve utilized federal COVID-19 relief aid and/or Oklahoma Department of Commerce grants funded through the CARES Act. We also toured several local businesses including No Man’s Land Beef Jerky and Brueggemann’s.

Eleven businesses across Enid were invited to the round table discussion with the governor, including the Leonardo’s Children’s Museum, Mead Jewelers, the Bridal Shop and Settlers Brewing Co. The main theme of the discussion centered around innovation and the changes these businesses have made to remain flexible and profitable during the pandemic. The lengths our small businesses have gone to in order to remain in business has been impressive, and I’m proud of the way they’ve adapted over the past six months. Our communities and state are built on the backs of our small businesses, so I challenge each of you to continue to “support local” even after this pandemic comes to an end.

I also had the pleasure of attending John Gray’s Coach a Kid motorcycle show last week in Enid. It was a successful event, and I enjoyed visiting with John about his vision to make a better life for kids and families in the Enid area.

The governor also announced some great news regarding our state’s bridge conditions this past week. After ranking as low as 49^th in the country, Oklahoma is now ranked 9^th in the nation by the Federal Highway Administration for the conditions of our bridges. This is thanks to the serious investment we’ve made in our transportation infrastructure over the past 15 years.

In 2004, nearly 1,200 of our 6,800 highway bridges were considered structurally deficient, needing major repairs or replacement. Today, only 86 are considered structurally deficient. These bridges are all set for repair and improvement through the Oklahoma Department of Transportation’s eight-year plan. Did you know that Grant County has more bridges than any other county in the state? Investing in our rural roads and bridges will continue to be a priority for me over the next four years.

Finally, please don’t forget to fill out your census form if you’ve not already completed it. Vital federal funding for road and bridge projects, local schools and hospitals are at stake. Oklahoma currently ranks 41^st in the nation in census response rate, so we need to do all we can to encourage our family, friends, co-workers and neighbors to complete the questionnaire ASAP. If you haven’t returned the census, you may soon receive a knock at your door from a Census Bureau employee to assist you in answering the survey. To complete it online, please visit www.2020census.gov or call 844-330-2020 to complete it over the phone.

If there’s any issue I can help you with, please let me know. You can reach my office at [email protected] or by phone at 405-521-5630. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you.