Most political pundits were perplexed, but not necessarily surprised when Kendra Horn won Congressional District 5 in Central Oklahoma. In a “wave” election year you will see some seats that were not supposed to be competitive or even close, flip parties due to national and local indicators. The question is, can Kendra Horn carve a moderate path with a more and more liberal Democrat party?

We saw on the NBC Affiliate in Oklahoma City this past weekend, KFOR, the political show “Flashpoint” where Horn was pressed by former GOP Lt. Governor Todd Lamb, now a host on the show, regarding her first vote in Congress for Nancy Pelosi.  Time and time again, it seems as if Congresswoman Horn is just not comfortable with that vote and with time it becomes harder and harder for her to explain back home in Oklahoma.

Take that awkward exchange and balance its substance to earlier this August recess when, after pressure from social media ads deployed by the Consumer Coalition of Oklahoma (a Pro-Stitt C4),  Horn signed a letter with other swing-district Democrats across the country asking Pelosi to put USMCA on the floor for a vote.

Immigration, Green New Deal, Defense spending, and a myriad of other issues continue to put Horn in a perpetual game of Ping-Pong from appeasing the Speaker of the House to appealing with her GOP-leaning constituents. We haven’t really even gotten into the Democrat Presidential primaries… Would Horn support a nominee who wants to get rid of fossil fuels? That would be crushing to her re-election chances in Oklahoma’s oil and gas industry heavy 5^th district.

BIG QUESTION: Can Horn survive her continual game of Ping-Pong or will she get spiked trying to be everyone’s friend?

An even more popular reform is Governor Stitt’s proposal of saving money for the state’s rainy-day fund.  When voters are told of the 574 million dollar increase in certification of funds, 73% agree with Stitt’s proposal to saving at least 200 million into the state’s savings account.  “Everyone should pay attention to the question wording here,” McFerron said.  “In this question we made the argument that the state should spend the money to make-up for past underfunding.  Even with this note, a strong supermajority of voters still favor saving over spending.”
  
“Fully 84% of Republicans and 87% of those Republicans who regularly vote in primary elections favor the savings plan,” McFerron continued. “And this is a message that unites both urban and rural Oklahomans with more than 70% of each group supporting saving at least $200 million.”

“We are excited about the results of this poll,” said Harlow.  “As advocates for Oklahoma consumers, we want a state government which is responsive to them.  This polling shows that support for these two priorities of the Stitt administration is one way to give Oklahomans what they desire.”

The survey of Oklahoma registered voters was conducted by live agents on both land and mobile lines.  It was controlled for gender, age of respondent, partisan affiliation, and region of the state so that it accurately reflects the Oklahoma electorate.  Conducted March 12-15, 2019, the survey of 400 registered voters has a margin of error of +/- 4.9%.   Full question wording is below.
 
1. As you may know, Governor Stitt and legislative leaders recently announced they had reached a compromise agreement which will give the Oklahoma governor’s office more control over the key agency boards.  These nine-member boards will now be comprised of five gubernatorial appointments and four from legislative leaders who will serve at the will of whoever appoints them.  This will allow any governor in Oklahoma to have more control and responsibility for actions of these agencies instead of the way it is now where the appointments can last for years and overlap from one governor to the next, meaning a new governor may not gain control of an agency for six years or more.  From what you know, do you approve or disapprove of this new approach?

58%​ Approve
28%​ Disapprove
14% Undecided
 
2. As you may know, the state equalization board has certified that the state legislature will have $574 million more to spend this year than last year.  Governor Stitt has proposed saving at least $200 million of these dollars into the state’s rainy-day fund savings account, while others say the state should spend all of this money to make-up for past underfunding.  Do you favor or oppose Governor’ Stitt’s proposal to save at least $200 million?

73%​ Favor
20%​ Oppose
 7% ​ Undecided

RETIREMENT from the U.S. Senate did nothing to temper Tom Coburn’s interest in the affairs of Washington or his concerns about the future of this country. They’re as evident as ever today.

Coburn, who turned 70 in March, wrote a book last year called “Smashing the DC Monopoly” about the need for an Article V convention of the states, and has traveled the country promoting that idea. He touched on it again last week in an interview with Rick Santelli on CNBC in a discussion about federal spending concerns.

“The only ultimate strategy is to have a constitutional amendment that requires fiscal discipline from Washington, which means you’re going to use generally accepted accounting principles, which they never use,” Coburn said.

“And No. 2, give them a period of time where they have to balance the budget, then you have a supermajority of the states say, ‘Yeah, you can spend more money than that.’ That’s the only way we’ll ever control it. We have to have a structural change in how we spend money in Washington.”

Read the complete story on NewsOK.com

The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Friday threw out a petition seeking to repeal recent tax increases, ruling that it was misleading and fatally flawed.

Oklahoma Taxpayers Unite!, which has been circulating petitions to force a statewide vote on the tax hikes, now has less than than a month to file a new petition and gather more than 41,000 signatures. The deadline is July 18.

In their decision, justices said nothing prevents the group “from filing a new referendum petition, without the deficiencies identified today, and restarting the process of referendum.”

The Supreme Court – siding with groups that included the Oklahoma Education Association and the Oklahoma State School Boards Association – ruled that the petition being circulated was misleading and incomplete.

Read the complete story on NewsOK.com

Reps. Sean Roberts, Teague Request Study on Legislation to Provide Accountability and Funding for State Agencies

OKLAHOMA CITY – State Reps. Sean Roberts and Tess Teague have requested a study to review the six pieces of legislation they filed during the 56th Legislature’s second extraordinary session.

Lawmakers can request studies on various topics to take place in the interim period between sessions. These studies give legislators an opportunity to dive deeper into issues without the distraction of a normal session.

“My constituents have been clear,” said Roberts, R-Hominy. “They aren’t happy with the way money is being wasted in state government, and they are tired of their tax dollars being lost to greed, incompetence and negligence. We owe it to our citizens to look at ways that we can save taxpayers money and still provide for our state’s core services. I believe these six pieces of legislation are a step in the right direction. I hope this study is approved and all my colleagues attend.”

The six bills were filed as part of the 2017 second special legislative session.

“New taxes aren’t the answer to a problem that stems from a lack of accountability and oversight,” said Teague, R-Choctaw. “It’s time for the Legislature to stop playing games with other people’s money and start passing legislation that addresses the problems our state agencies face.”

The proposed legislation includes:

• House Bill 1043XX, which enforces a performance audit of the State Department of Education. This would be performed by the state auditor.
• House Bill 1044XX, which requires the Commissioners of the Land Office (CLO) to provide every teacher with a $500 annual stipend for classroom supplies.
• House Bill 1045XX, which caps superintendent salaries to that of the governor’s. The governor’s salary is currently $147,000 per year. This legislation mimics federal law.
• House Bill 1046XX, which consolidates superintendents across Oklahoma’s more than 500 school districts. This would only affect counties with populations less than 400,000.
• House Bill 1047XX, which requires the state superintendent to submit to the Legislature and the governor a rolling five-year plan to meet existing and future public education needs for funding and policy reform.
• House Bill 1048XX, which reallocates $15 million of lottery funding for textbooks and curriculum technology.

“These measures are responsible reforms that add accountability to government and offer ways to provide funding for government services without raising taxes on Oklahomans,” said Roberts. “Finding solutions that don’t end with the government taking more money from citizens is why lawmakers are elected. I hope this study will help other lawmakers realize that there are other options to fund government – options that the people of Oklahoma demand.”

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ONE service provided by Oklahoma’s multi-county grand jury and state auditor’s review of the Health Department’s finances is that it undermined a talking point too often blindly accepted as fact: That most, if not all, state agencies have been “cut to the bone.” The investigative audit report on the Health Department shows how that claim can rely on rhetorical sleight-of-hand.

The audit reveals, “Although the agency claimed that the current financial ‘crisis’ is due in part to decreasing revenues, that claim does not reflect the full picture.”

Auditors determined the money directly appropriated to the Health Department by the Legislature had been cut by $7 million between the 2011 and 2017 budget years, but those cuts were more than offset by $20 million in increased non-appropriated revenue during that same period.

“In summary, total agency revenues increased by $13 million and total overall expenditures increased by $15 million,” the audit revealed.

Read the complete story on NewsOK.com

The referendum petition being circulated to repeal taxes passed by the Legislature is valid, and a protest filed by the Association of Professional Oklahoma Educators should be rejected, the Oklahoma attorney general’s office argued Friday to the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

In written arguments, Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter’s office said the state Constitution has always afforded broad protection to the right of citizens to seek a referendum on legislation. That right was strengthened when voters approved State Question 640 and barred the Legislature from attaching an emergency enactment clause to bills that raise taxes.

The state Supreme Court should “zealously guard the right of referendum” and deny the protest filed by the Association of Professional Oklahoma Educators, Hunter’s office argued.

The high court asked the attorney general’s office for its opinion on the protest filed by the Association of Professional Oklahoma Educators and on a separate protest filed by the Oklahoma Education Association and other education groups.

Read the complete story on NewsOK.com

I have read with interest and reflection the opinion pieces and letters to the editor about the Oklahoma Taxpayers Unite effort to collect signatures for a referendum on the tax increases passed by the state Legislature.

I wholeheartedly agree we need to have our teachers at salaries that attract the best and the brightest to educate our most valuable resource, our children. We should have the highest-paid teachers in our area of the country and the most accountable.
But what happened in the Legislature will cause Oklahoma to fail, not succeed. The Legislature has raised over $1.1 billion in new taxes since 2015. But what they have not done is look at every state agency and ask what is the goal of each, how do they spend their money and are they transparent with the resources they get.

Bureaucracies by their very nature are not efficient. Their goal is survival and expansion and most are not mission-focused, but survival-focused. That is just human nature.

Take, for example, the recent news about the Oklahoma Department of Health. A commissioner’s slush fund? The firing of 188 state personnel because the accounting in the agency was so poor it did not know where the money was and the limitations on it? Then $30 million in additional appropriations that were not needed.

Read the complete story on tulsaworld.com

Justin Forney worked for the state Department of Health for 12 years as a public information officer, stationed in several county health departments, including Logan County.

Then, in the wake of a financial crisis that shook the department, Forney lost his job in March – the result of cuts of nearly 200 health department positions.

Forney is still unemployed. And on Thursday, as the news rolled out statewide that a grand jury had found the agency’s reported cash shortfall never happened, he felt a sense of shock.

He got a text from a former co-worker: “This was all for nothing?”

Read the complete story on OklahomaWatch.org

The chairman of the Oklahoma Ethics Commission is accusing legislators of retaliating against the watchdog agency by illegally cutting its budget.

“I am appalled,” the chairman, John C. Hawkins, wrote in an email sent Sunday to state senators and House members. “The retaliation on a state agency by cutting their budget for doing their job is unconscionable.”

The Ethics Commission may sue.

Hawkins complained in his email that legislators took the action because of new restrictions imposed on gift getting and on becoming a lobbyist after leaving office.

Read the complete story on NewsOK.com

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Even as they presented unified calls for increased funding, rural and urban educators had starkly different ideas of how to accomplish it, lawmakers said.

Teachers were allied in their calls for increased pay, additional classroom spending and reduced class sizes. Still, some lawmakers said they couldn’t help but notice some stark disagreement and mixed messages about how to solve those issues.

And as the walkout continued with little apparent legislative action, lawmakers said the divide appeared to be heightened by educators’ geographical and socioeconomic differences.

“The last two weeks, we almost had a civil war between the urban and the rural teachers,” said state Sen. Ron Sharp, R-Shawnee, a retired teacher and vice chair of his chamber’s education committee. “Your rural teachers, your rural superintendents began to realize this is turning into a battle of survival, and I don’t think they anticipated this.”

Read the complete story from the AP.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma voters could get a chance to vote on repealing a tax hike package used to fund a teacher pay raise.

Tax hike critics on Tuesday filed a referendum petition seeking to overturn House Bill 1010xx.

The bill, passed in a second special session, raises taxes to fund an average of a $6,100 teacher pay raise.

The measure added $1 to a pack of cigarettes, 3 cents to gasoline, 6 cents to diesel and increased the gross production tax to 5 percent from 2 percent.

Read the complete story on tulsaworld.com

Governor Mary Fallin Signs Budget Bill

OKLAHOMA CITY – Governor Mary Fallin today signed the Fiscal Year 2019 budget bill (Senate Bill 1600) into law, which includes historic teacher pay raises and increases for public schools as well as criminal justice reform measures that she recently signed into law. The $7.6 billion budget puts significantly more money toward education, mental health services, and public safety.

“The budget includes many of the priorities I have called for in my annual State of the State address to lawmakers the past three years. Core services of state government are prioritized throughout the budget. It provides for a teacher pay raise and additional funding for public schools as well as increased funding for mental health and corrections to implement criminal justice reform measures. The legislation also includes additional revenue growth to put Oklahoma on a stable foundation, and reduces reliance on one-time funds.

“The budget includes a 19.8 percent increase for common education, the largest appropriation for public schools in state history. The appropriation includes $353 million to fund teacher pay raises that average $6,100 per teacher, which move Oklahoma teacher from last in the seven-state region to second for average annual pay, and from 49th in the nation to 29th. When taking into account the cost of living, Oklahoma teachers will be the 12th-highest-paid in the country. It also has $52 million for support personnel pay raises, $24 million for flex health benefits; $33 million for textbooks, and $17 in new funding for the school funding formula.

“This budget includes $11 million for multiple criminal justice reform measures, such as:

• $5 million to the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services – $4 million to fund risk/needs assessments, and $1 million to drug and mental health treatment courts.
• $4.8 million to the Department of Corrections to fund a new system that will allow the agency to track and monitor offenders on probation in one system, and will allow for shared data regarding offenders to be shared in one database statewide.
• $500,000 for the Pay for Success program, which reduces the number of women sent to prison and the resulting impact incarceration has on their children.

“The budget also includes about $23 million for the Department of Human Services to help Oklahoma’s most vulnerable citizens. This will fully fund the Pinnacle Plan, which calls for improving services to our children in state custody, and restoring provider rates that had been cut, as well as addressing those on the Developmental Disabilities Service Division waiting list.

“For the first time in years, no agency is receiving a cut. This budget provides a long-term solution to the re-occurring budget deficits and helps reduce the reliance on one-time funds. The people of Oklahoma expect excellence and demand we solve our state’s problems. This budget provides an opportunity to bring forth an enduring reality for a promising future.” – Governor Mary Fallin

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Yesterday, the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 888 which eliminates the ability for producers of wind energy to cash in unused subsidies. Gov. Frank Keating and Dr. Tom Coburn issued the following statements:

From Gov. Frank Keating:

“It’s time to end cash subsidies for wind production in Oklahoma. The wind production subsidy program has grown wildly beyond what was presented to me and lawmakers when we first approved the credits. As policymakers, when we realize that an act of government isn’t working or has gone way beyond what was intended, it is our duty to change it.” said former Gov. Frank Keating, who signed the first iteration of wind production tax credits when he served as the 25th Governor of Oklahoma.

“Protecting millions of Oklahomans from being forced to unjustly subsidize a wasteful and now unnecessary government program is far superior and morally right rather than adhering to a flawed scheme. The drafting of SB 888 treats refundable wind subsidies in a prospective manner, just as lawmakers have done with the constitutional elimination of the refundability of the Oklahoma Earned Income Tax Credit.”

From Dr. Tom Coburn:

“Since 2015, policymakers at the state Capitol have raised taxes and annual revenue on Oklahomans by $1.1 billion—even raising Oklahomans’ personal income taxes since 2016 by at least $185 million annually alone. Given how much in taxes have been raised on millions of Oklahomans who don’t have an army of well-paid lobbyists to represent them at the state Capitol, it’s unconscionable that Oklahoma would continue the kind of crony-capitalist policy that is a major part of state government’s over-spending addiction that got us into this problem in the first place,” said Dr. Tom Coburn, who served as a United States Senator for Oklahoma.

“I encourage Oklahoma State Senators to cut through the hyperbole and scare tactics presented by crony capitalists who want to continue to massively benefit at the expense of millions of Oklahoma taxpayers. A vote in favor of SB 888 is the exact kind of reform and oversight that lawmakers can support to keep their promise to voters to protect them from wasteful government spending. Wind production in Oklahoma is receiving more than $110 million a year in subsidies from state taxpayers. With some estimates showing state subsidies for one wind turbine exceed the starting salary of an Oklahoma teacher even after the legislatively enacted pay raise, this boondoggle must end.”

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Here is the link to the video by OAR member Brad Worster, CPM, CCIM – https://youtu.be/dbpb34oJyLw

STATEMENT

The Oklahoma Association of REALTORS® (OAR) stands firmly in opposition to any attempt by lawmakers to end the capital gains tax deduction. Long-term investment and stability for our communities are key to Oklahoma’s economic growth and prosperity. Removing those exemptions will drive individuals and businesses from our state and hurt Oklahoma’s economy.

Additionally, capital gains taxes can vary dramatically year to year. It is not and will never be a stable funding source for our state.

Elimination of the capital gains tax is not in the best interest of the hard-working Oklahomans. We ask lawmakers to consider the individuals and businesses that are helping to sustain and grow their communities before attempting an untenable fix.

– Oklahoma Association of REALTORS® Chief Executive Officer Jessica M. Hickok, GRI, RCE, CAE

Three Republican gubernatorial candidates said they would not have signed the revenue and teacher pay raise package that promises a $6,100 annual increase for the average teacher.

In a candidate forum on KOKC radio aired Monday, Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb, Tulsa businessman Kevin Stitt and Tulsa attorney Gary Richardson said they would not have signed the package. Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett did not say what he would have done.

Auditor and Inspector Gary Jones said he would have signed the package because it mirrored one that he offered with Democratic legislators.

Lawmakers two weeks ago approved a $474 million package that includes a boost in oil and gas production taxes; higher gas and diesel taxes; and a $1-a-pack increase in the cigarette tax. Gov. Mary Fallin signed the package. The teacher walkout began a few days after the package was signed.

Read the complete story on NewsOK.com

Oklahoma’s teachers have just completed the first week of a statewide “walkout,” with no resolution in sight. (It’s a “walkout,” not a “strike,” as public-employee strikes are illegal in Oklahoma.)

Ironically, the state’s teachers had won much of what they wanted before the walkout even began. On Friday, March 23, the Oklahoma Education Association (OEA), the state’s largest teachers union, issued an ambitious list of demands: a $10,000 pay raise for teachers; $5,000 raise for school-support personnel; $200 million over three years in additional local-school funding; a 5 percent cost-of-living increase for retirees; and $500 million over three years to “fully staff state agencies” and raise state employee pay by $7,500 a year. In OEA’s estimation, this total package would cost more than $1.4 billion over three years.

In response, on Thursday, March 29 the Oklahoma legislature enacted a new teacher-pay scale that boosted average teacher pay by $6,100 — or 16 percent. This represented a remarkable win for teachers: In 2016, Oklahoma’s average teacher salary of $45,276 ranked 49th nationally, according to the National Education Association (NEA). The raise was funded via new taxes on gas, tobacco, and oil production, along with a new limit on income-tax deductions.

Yet, teachers were not placated — and on Monday, April 2, they started the walkout. The next day, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed a $2.9 billion appropriations bill for education funding in fiscal year 2019 — a 19.7 percent boost in spending over the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. The legislation includes $353.5 million for teacher pay (funding the $6,100 average raise); $52 million for support personnel pay; $50 million for textbooks and general state aid; and $24.7 million for health-care benefits. Fallin signed additional legislation providing a $1,250 annual pay bump for school-support personnel and tiered raises for state employees ranging from $750 to $2,000.

Read the complete story on thehill.com