Governor Henry also secured a state vote to fund several vital healthcare initiatives through a modest increase in the tobacco tax（烟草税）．Approved by voters in November of 2004，the measure included targeted tax cuts，particularly an elimination（排除，消除）of the capital gains tax on all Oklahoma property（财产）held for five years or more．
Other highlights of his second year in office included：additional tort reform，Medicaid（〈美〉（由各级政府资助、以穷人和伤残者为对象的）医疗补助（制度））screening for breast and cervical（［解］颈的，子宫颈的）cancer，voluntary relocation assistance for the troubled Tar Creek region and expansion of preschool programs．A landmark anti－methamphetamine measure advanced by Gov．Henry resulted in a dramatic decline（下倾，衰败）of meth（（=methamphetamine）［美俚］甲安菲他明（一种兴奋剂））lab seizures and has become a model for the rest of the nation．
In his third year，Gov．Henry continued his pro－economic growth agenda（议程）with tax relief，tax rebates（回扣，折扣）and a workers’compensation reform package that business groups hailed as the most substantive（真实的，大量的，巨额的）in Oklahoma history．He strengthened education through comprehensive school accountability（有责任，有义务），increased teacher pay and an initiative upgrading college campuses across the state．In addition，Gov．Henry worked successfully to provide access for more affordable prescription drugs，bolster（垫子）funding for road and bridge repair and ensure much－needed assistance Oklahoma National Guard members and their families．
Despite the demands of office，Brad Henry remains a committed family man．The Henrys have long been active members of the Shawnee community，participating in a number of civic organizations and local causes．They are also members of the First Baptist（施洗者，浸信会教友）Church of Shawnee where both have served as Sunday school teachers．The Governor has also served as an ordained（规定，任命（牧师））deacon（执事）at that church．
Governor Henry is working to build a better Oklahoma by strengthening the state public education system and making health care more accessible and affordable to the citizenry（公民成市民（集合称））．In his inaugural address，he urged citizens to celebrate Oklahoma’s many accomplishments，put aside their differences and rally together for the good of their beloved state．As he often likes to say，“We are all Oklahomans first．”
State Bird州鸟
从长尾到一流的“空中飞舞”，俄克拉荷马州没有任何一种鸟像剪尾捕昆鸟惹人注目且可以确认。1951年5月26日在花园俱乐部和奥特朋协会大力支持下，本州立法机关正式批准此鸟为州鸟。剪尾捕昆鸟有着美丽的羽毛和长于身体2倍的光滑的尾巴。燕尾看起来像剪刀。剪尾捕昆鸟尾巴颜色黑白相间，后背则呈暗灰色，腹部和头部呈浅灰色，翅膀的下部呈浅橘红色。
From its long tail to its famous“sky dance，”no other Oklahoma bird is more striking（显著的）and identifiable（可以确认的）than the scissor－tailed flycatcher．No wonder the State Legislature adopted the scissortail as the state bird May 26，1951，after school children discovered enormous support from garden clubs and Audubon Society chapters．The selection is even more special because none of the other seven states in which scissortails nest have named it as their state bird．
Scissor－Tailed Flycatcher Muscivora forficata，is a somewhat quiet bird with beautiful plumage and a long sleek（光滑的）tail that is twice as long as its body．The deeply－forked tail resembles a pair of scissors．The Scissor Tailed Flycatcher has a black and white tail，a dark gray back，a light gray chest and head and has pale orange red coloring beneath its wings．
The scissor－tailed flycatcher is known by other names as well－scissortail，Texas bird－of－paradise and swallowtailed（燕尾状物，风蝶）flycatcher．It is obvious how the bird acquired its common names，but its former Latin name－Muscivora forficata－describes the bird in even grander terms．Muscivora derives from the Latin word for “fly”（musca）and “to devour”（vorare），while forficata comes from forfex（剪刀），or scissors．The scissortail now is a member of the genus Tyrannus，or “tyrant－like flycatchers．”This genus earned its name because several species are extremely aggressive on their breeding territories，where they will attack larger birds such as crows，hawks and owls．
State Flower州花
1893年桷寄生成为俄克拉荷马州的州花，它是俄克拉荷马州最古老的象征。桷寄生是绿色开花性植物，它需要寄生在其他植物上，尽管它们是完全寄生的，但它们靠光合作用来吸收大部分的养料，主要是水和来自寄主的矿元素。当桷寄生植物的枝干枯死，它的根部能利用寄主的养料仍然活着。桷寄生的花开在不同的植物上，雄花和雌花看起来很相似，只有结出果实才能知道这种植物是雄性的还是雌性的。
Mistletoe，phoradendron seotinum，is the oldest of Oklahoma’s symbols，adopted first in 1893，14years before statehood．Its greenery（温室，草木）in the harsh winter months symbolizes the perseverence of early settlers．The colors of the foliage（树叶，植物）of mistletoe and its berries（浆果），green and white，are the state colors of Oklahoma．
Mistletoe phoradendron serotinum the oldest of Oklahoma’s symbols，adopted in 1893—14years before statehood．Mistletoe grows on trees throughout the state and is particularly bountiful（慷慨的，宽大的）in the southern regions of Oklahoma．The dark green leaves and white berries show up brightly during the fall and winter in trees that have shed their own leaves．
Mistletoes are a group of vascular（［解］［动］脉管的，有脉管的，血管的），flowering plants that parasitize（寄生于，寄生感染）stems of trees and shrubs．There are 700－1400species（depending who you ask）of mistletoe worldwide found in the Viscaceae and Loranthaceae families，located mainly in tropical and subtropical（亚热带的）regions of the world．Even the family has several synonyms（同义字）．Renamed by our own Dr．James Reveal as Phoradendron leucarpum（Johnston and Reveal），American mistletoe was previously know as P．serotinum，P．flavescens．Phoradendron has a wide geographic distribution and is found in the US from New Jersey to Florida to Texas．It has a broad host range and parasitizes mostly hardwoods（硬木，阔叶树）．
