I mentioned in my last Murphy Mail that more whirlwind weeks were to come and that seems more true than ever. It seems like the pace of March just moved right into April without skipping a beat. Thanks to so many of you, I will have a strong contribution report for the reporting period ending March 31st. Given that I had only a few days to raise money based on ethics rules for sitting Commissioners prior to the March 31 deadline, I was incredibly pleased with the amount raised. For those of you who would like to contribute to my re-election efforts, I would greatly appreciate your donation. You can print a contributor slip directly from the website or make a donation directly on-line at: http://www.danamurphy.com/donate-supportdana-42.html

In addition to my regular responsibilities as a Corporation Commissioner, I have many opportunities to meet and visit with Oklahomans across the State. On March 30, I spoke to the Oklahoma Federation of Republican Women at the State Capitol; then on March 31, I traveled to Dallas for a meeting of the Southwest Power Pool organization: and on April 1, I had the opportunity to join Representative Harold Wright at the Capitol for his weekly radio show on KWEY broadcast in Weatherford.

Last Monday, along with Dr. Coburn, I had the privilege to speak to the GOP House caucus. During my remarks I spoke about current activities and issues pending at the Commission, including the increased number of complicated matters in the utility and oil and gas sectors. In utilities, we are dealing with more utility cases than ever ranging from integrated resource plans, demand side management and energy efficiency plans and fuel cost adjustment reviews just to name a few. In oil and gas, we just completed our rulemaking hearings and sent to the legislature our proposed new rules which involved updating our 20 year old horizontal drilling rules and adding special field rules for development in the Woodford Shale, just to name a few.

Among the little known facts about the Commission are that with 440 employees, in 6 offices, we regulate over 120,000 oil and gas wells, almost 3,000 oil and gas operators, 500 public utilities, 10,000 trucking companies, permitting for over 150,000 tractor trailers and calibration of over 31,000 gasoline pumps across the entire state. The Commission is one of the few agencies that actually create jobs and has a direct economic impact on the state. In contrast, the Department of Human Services has almost 8,000 employees, the Department of Transportation has almost 5,000 employees, the Department of Corrections has 4,661 employees and the State Health Department, over 2,000 employees. It is easy to see that the Commission does a lot with the 440 employees we have. Under current budget difficulties, it becomes more clear than ever that we will be expected to do more with less!

My speaking opportunities continued as on April 6, I spoke to the Tulsa Geological Society and the Tulsa Landmen Association at the marvelous Mayo Hotel and on April 8, I spoke to members of the American Petroleum Institute. Being a geologist myself, I always have a special place in my heart for those in the geological profession and for all of those producers of oil and gas in Oklahoma who make such a difference for our economy!

Today, I had the opportunity to visit Kingfisher and speak to the great and growing group of Kingfisher County Republican Women where I also had the chance to visit with former representative Rob Johnson who is running for the Senate and newcomer Mark Costello who is running for Labor Commissioner. I also had the chance to visit one of my favorite small town newspaper publishers, Gary Reid, and stop by the Commission field office in Kingfisher.

My special thanks again for your ongoing support and your contributions to help my re-election efforts! The budget issues will continue to make the rest of this year into next year, challenging ones and I know at the Commission that we will continue to strive to do more with less as each of you are also personally doing! I will continue to keep my promise of working hard and traveling the State to bring the Commission to your communities. It is more important than ever to continue our tradition as an energy producing state and my work to improve relations between consumers, mineral owners, energy companies and others in a regulatory framework that promotes orderly, efficient development that helps keep Oklahoma as a leader for opportunity!

God Bless,

Your Commissioner, Dana