State Sen. David Bullard and State Reps Cody Maynard and Justin Humphrey spoke during the IMPACT Durant Advocacy luncheon last week at The Gordon Event Center.
The lawmakers presented a wrap-up from this year’s session in the Oklahoma Legislature and they also answered questions.
The Durant Area Chamber of Commerce was one of the sponsors of the event and chamber CEO Kara Byrd said the luncheon was an opportunity for constituents to hear from their legislators.
“It’s very hard for most people to get up to Oklahoma City to hear what’s going on in session and know what policies and regulations that our senators and our house of representatives are working on,” Byrd said. “So, the thought behind that is really just bridging the gap of making sure our community is aware of what they are doing to represent us, what are the bills that they got through legislation, what are some that they thought, ‘Hey, this doesn’t need to go any further,’ that they killed. What are some of their priorities for next year and so that’s really what that was.
“It was just giving an opportunity for them to talk about their success off the session and what’s coming down the pike and then giving our community members an opportunity to ask them questions about what’s important to them and be advocates for themselves.”
Byrd said one of the big topics was the control tower at the airport they have been working on in conjunction with Southeastern Oklahoma State University and the City of Durant.
“Of course water and infrastructure is always a big conversation,” Byrd said.
She said there were conversations about the Roosevelt Bridge, the lake levels and boat ramps that legislators are working to get funding for that will help draw tourism to the lake.
“There was a lot of conversation about the budget, in and of itself and what they are looking at as far as thinking through what do we need to be spending all of this money on, what do we need to look at for appropriations,” Byrd said. “So, there was some high-level points that they were talking on that will obviously affect all of Oklahoma but specifically for Durant, the FAA tower and the water infrastructure project and the Roosevelt Bridge as well as the boat ramps.”
Bullard, speaking on the Roosevelt Bridge replacement project, said he wants the new bridge to be attractive.
“If you build a concrete block out there going across that lake, I’m out,” Bullard said. “I want it to be an attraction. We’re spending $350 million, so I want something that’s attractive. I don’t care if you make the bridge look like a flip flop or Trump’s hairdo.”
