Dear Friends,

Recent weather has affected so many, including part of our farm and ranch where a small tornado apparently hit one of our places and damaged trees and fences. Thankfully, no one in my family and none of our livestock and equipment were harmed. While the weather has been challenging, I am grateful that things continue to go incredibly well on the re-election campaign. In May alone, fund raising for my re-election campaign is already over $60,000. I am so appreciative of the great support I continue to receive!

No doubt, many of us will be relieved when this legislative session is over on May 28th, just as I know our legislators will be. This week was budget news for all state agencies. We found out Thursday morning, that the cut to the FY-2011 (FY= fiscal year which goes from July 1 to June 30 each year) general appropriation for the Commission is 15.1% or approximately $1.8 million, which means our appropriation will be approximately $10.1 million in comparison to $11.9 million in FY-2010. While that seems not to be the best of news, the Commission will be provided additional revenues of $2.0 million from the underground storage tank fund to offset the budget cut. As some of you might recall from my earlier Murphy Mails, the Commission's baseline appropriation budget was mistakenly decreased by $1.9 million during FY-2009 and the tough economic situation has resulted in challenges for the legislature to restore the baseline to which cuts are made. You might also remember that only about 20-25% of our total agency budget is appropriated and the remainder comes from various sources including fees, permits, grants, utility assessment and other areas. More will be known in the coming week and months as to what additional actions might have to be taken at the Commission to meet our overall budget. The shortage in our oil and gas division of approximately $2.5 million continues to remain.

Activity in the Oklahoma oil and gas sector continues to be up over the past several months primarily with additional horizontal drilling. The active rig count in Oklahoma for last week was 124 rigs, which is up about 40 rigs from this same time last year. In Oklahoma, horizontal drilling is not just leading to the development of increased natural gas supplies from shale, but is also leading to greater development of oil reserves in formations which have typically been developed by vertical drilling.

Among the active issues which have started or are on-going at the Commission are: smart meter and wind farm cases totaling about $700 million; rate case reviews for several utilities; telecom matters involving review and assessment of various funds that customers currently pay into and the rulemaking involving a statewide toll-free calling plan, along with numerous other matters involving oil and gas development. Issues surrounding electric transmission and the beginning rollout of the federal broadband plan will also be matters that the Commission will be monitoring over the coming years.

May 17, 2010 is an evening that I will not soon forget. I have enjoyed many Republican events during my involvement with the Party, but meeting and hearing Karl Rove on May 17th was one of the best ones for me personally. He spoke for almost an hour with no notes and his ability to recount details of specific bills and moments of the Bush presidency was quite remarkable. The next day, I started reading his new book which was given out to those in attendance and I have already found it to be interesting, engaging and easy to follow. Among items his book has revealed thus far, he was a state champion in debate during high school and his father was a geologist which made it even more interesting for me. Much to my surprise, Karl Rove gave me a great shout out at the beginning of his speech for "beating 4 billionaires" and overcoming the odds to win in 2008. I thought Gary and the Republican Party staff did a great job to pull this event off in the 3 weeks they had to do it! You can see my photo with Karl at http://www.danamurphy.com/on-the-trail-mainmenu-32/279-karlrove.html

This week I met with the editorial board at the Oklahoman and the Lawton Constitution and I thought they received me very well. Prior to traveling to Lawton on May 20 to speak to the Rotary and visit the Lawton Constitution, I checked on the economic situation and found that sales tax was up and the unemployment rate was down in Lawton. Of surprise to me, but probably not to those living in Lawton, the community is doing remarkably well and one of the bright spots of communities in Oklahoma under current economic times.

During the weekend of Memorial Day, I will be attending the annual luncheon and business meeting at the Mt. Olive Church and Cemetery where I am chairman of the cemetery association. Four generations of my family, including my Dad, are buried at this little country cemetery which is just a few miles from my Mom's home. Those attending who come to remember their loved ones and decorate graves travel from states as far as Delaware, New York and New Mexico just to mention a few. Last year, we had close to 100 in attendance. My thoughts and prayers are with those who have lost loved ones, especially those in the military, as Memorial Day approaches.

Again, thanks so much to all of you for your incredible financial support and personal support in my re-election efforts. I continue to be amazed at the generosity and support I receive as I travel around the state. I am still working hard to raise money as I continue to hear about efforts to recruit someone with no experience to run against me. I worked very hard and so did many of you to help me become your Corporation Commissioner and I plan to exert as much or more effort to stay on the job and doing my best for Oklahoma! If you want to contribute, you can do so by printing a contributor slip directly from my website and mailing it with your donation or you can make a donation directly on-line at: http://www.danamurphy.com/donate-supportdana-42.html

Safe travels and blessings to you during this last week of the legislative session and heading into Memorial Day weekend!

God Bless,

Your Commissioner, Dana