New Assault Launched On Legislative Term Limits

During a recent update, I wrote about past abuses of Oklahoma's old guard politicians. I explained how some had earmarked money for their own pet projects, and how this type of heavy-handed control allowed individual legislators and their associates to benefit directly from taxpayer dollars.

While this form of abuse is still present in the legislature, I am confident in predicting that the window on legislative earmarks is shrinking. Those of us who are fighting to put an end to earmarks face the likelihood of success, due in part to the fact that there are many new legislators who have taken office in the past few years. Many of these individuals have not been corrupted by the political process. Unlike some of their predecessors, they are not career politicians. Oklahoma's term limit law allows all representatives and senators to serve only twelve years in the legislature. After that, they are under a lifetime ban from holding office in the legislature again. I believe this new generation of representatives and senators are fulfilling one of the important visions of our nation's founding fathers - the vision in which an average citizen dedicates a few years of life to representing the people as a citizen-statesman. At the end of the term of office, the legislator returns to the normal world to live under the very laws he or she helped to create. This helps ensure legislators will be more representative of the people instead of becoming a class of political elite.

As a result of the term limits law, the legislature is very different from just a few years ago. Gone are many of the old guard power bosses who tightly maintained the status-quo. These politicians could have stayed in office almost indefinitely and they held powerful committee chairmanships where they would bottle up reform-minded legislation. They have been replaced by a group of energetic professionals, many of whom wish to enact pro-growth policies (such as cutting taxes) to change Oklahoma for the better. And, should some succumb to the temptation to become part of the status-quo, they will inevitably be replaced by term limits.

However, State Senator Mary Easily recently announced that she will file a resolution as part of an effort to repeal term limits. If the Senator is successful, starting in 2010, members of the legislature would no longer be limited on how long they could serve.

In response, Senator Owen Lauglin released the following statement. "Thanks to term limits, the Oklahoma Legislature has attracted new legislators who have experience in the 'real world.' There is a different mindset because the newer legislators have come here to serve for a finite time and to make a difference. They don't want to make a career of being in the legislature."

I agree with Senator Lauglin's point of view. I think all Oklahomans should take pride in the fact that Oklahoma was the first state to pass a term limits law. As your Representative, I will continue to defend this important reform.

Exposing Pork

I believe one of the greatest problems created by big government is the ease with which it redistributes wealth. This occurs when one group of people use the power of the government to take money from the average taxpayer and give it to special interests.
One of the most offensive mechanisms used to raid the treasury and redistribute money is that of "earmarking." This is the process through which an influential politician essentially cuts a check from the treasury for some pet program or organization.
US Senator Tom Coburn has experienced increasing success in exposing this policy in federal government. By doing so, he is turning up the heat on politicians and making it uncomfortable for them to continue maintaining the big government status-quo. In state government, politicians will insert an earmark into an appropriations bill with just a few days left in the legislative session. This earmark is then voted on as part of a bigger appropriations bill that is not allowed to be amended. If a legislator dares to vote against the bill, then that legislator may face controversy for appearing to vote against justifiable appropriations in the same bill. One of the vehicles legislators have used for this policy in the past has been an appropriations bill for the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. Certain Department of Commerce appropriations would be earmarked to pass through the Department of Commerce to a second government entity, such as one of the regional government councils. The director of the regional government council would than receive a call from the House of Representatives or the Senate. The caller would instruct the director on how he should spend that money. Sometimes the instructions might be for the money to pass to another government entity, or even to a non-government entity. In this way, money took a variety of twists and turns that made it almost impossible for the public to track. Even many legislators had little opportunity to know the purpose for which money was spent. This allowed powerful committee chairs and high ranking legislators to have a tremendous amount of control over dispensing government largess. In some years, the amount of special projects money in the Department of Commerce alone amounted to millions of dollars. It was the discovery of these abuses which led to the federal scrutiny of some former legislators, after it was realized they may have personally profited from this spending. Earlier this year, the legislature passed and the Governor signed House Bill 1278. On the surface, HB 1278 was just an appropriations bill for the Oklahoma Department of Tourism. But with research, it became obvious that Senate budget negotiators had loaded up the bill with thousands of dollars of pork earmarks, or "pass through" spending. Pass through spending does not really go to the appropriated entity, but is "PASSED THROUGH" to an outside organization. One of the most controversial provisions was an appropriation of $200,000 for a line item known only as "A Pocket Full of Hope." As one Commissioner of the Tourism Department pointed out, there will be little if any opportunity for us to audit these expenditures and see how the money is really spent. Lt. Governor Mary Fallin, who used to be a member of the tourism board, also used her position to call on legislators to reform the system. Sadly, that call appears to have gone unheeded.
I believe it is wrong for politicians to forcefully take people's hard earned money and use it to cut checks for the privileged few. Senator Coburn's courage in standing against earmarks is contagious, and it is my belief that more and more elected officials will begin to take a position against this abuse

Putting The Government On Television

Putting The Government On Television

During recent weeks, State Representatives have been required to meet several deadlines regarding submission of new legislation. This is a time of opportunity for us to advocate for legislative efforts important to our constituents.

One issue I campaigned for and about which I feel strongly, is requiring state government to televise its proceedings so people can see what is really going on. I have observed that without televised proceedings, it is more difficult for citizens to view legislative events in their proper context. The number of procedural votes and other complicating issues create a cloud of confusion that sometimes allow politicians to take public positions on controversial issues that they in actuality are voting to sabotage.

If proceedings were televised, people would be able to see not only how their elected Representatives voted, but they would have full access to the debate and procedural votes as well. That way, a Representative would have to answer to a more informed electorate when he returned home.

Televising government proceedings has always been an issue I advocated. Nine years ago I decided to become more informed and involved in civic affairs. Following that desire, I attended a number of City Council meetings in both Guthrie and Edmond. The thing I noticed about the Guthrie meetings was that rarely were members of the public in attendance. I concluded that with all the demands faced by Oklahoma's working families, it is difficult for people to set aside time to keep track of government. And,...a government not monitored by the people will certainly face an increased risk of failing to be responsible to the people. I am strongly convinced that when government is televised, just one elected official brave enough to ask tough questions can hold the government responsible, and the people can see what is really transpiring.
In 2001, I campaigned for the Guthrie City Council on a platform of televising Council proceedings. The other City Council members supported this proposal and because of the fantastic dedication of city staff, the Guthrie government channel telecast is now one of the best in the state. If you have not viewed these proceedings, I would suggest you visit cityofguthrie.com and click on the "current city council meeting" link on the front page. This fall, the Guthrie television cameras were rolling as House Speaker Lance Cargill visited Guthrie as part of a town hall meeting. Cargill's visit demonstrated the exciting possibilities of televised government and was an important step in securing the support of House leadership for the proposal to televise state government.

With the assistance of the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA) we have refined what I believe is a strong proposal. If enacted, it will broadcast both House and Senate proceedings. If the proposal passes this spring, broadcasting would likely begin with the next legislative session.

It is an honor to work at providing better access to government. Hopefully, the effort will meet with success this legislative session.

Immigration Reform Part 2

Immigration Reform Part 2

One concern I recently heard about from District 31 has been that of the attempt to reverse last year's successes in implementing immigration reform.

When the Governor signed House Bill 1804 earlier this year, it appeared as if most of the debate surrounding illegal immigration would come to a close. However, in the last few weeks, it has become obvious that this is not the case and the issue will again be significant in the upcoming legislative session.

Known as the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizens Act, HB 1804 provided a clear series of reforms to the illegal immigration problem and made Oklahoma the leader in the application of immigration reform.

Key elements of the bill focused on determining work eligibility and encouraging employers to verify legal work status. The bill contained provisions to ensure taxpayer-supported benefits are made available to American citizens and legal immigrants only and gave state and local law enforcement officials the power to enforce federal immigration law – as well as restricting access by illegal aliens to driver’s licenses and ID cards.

The author of the bill, Randy Terrill, has indicated he will follow up 1804 with a bill he is calling the "son of HB 1804.” It would make English the official language in Oklahoma, document how many illegal immigrants attend taxpayer funded schools and provide disincentive for those who come to the United States illegally in order to insure citizenship for their children. Terrill would like to see the state able to refuse to issue birth certificates for these individuals, instead forcing them to request them from the consulate of the parents' nation of origin. The "son of 1804" would provide financial incentives to local law enforcement agencies to send officers to federal immigration training. Terrill also wants a bill that would reverse the recent creation of a permanent and unconditional expansion of the welfare system by the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, which voted to approve emergency rules granting taxpayer-subsidized medical coverage to pregnant illegal aliens on the theory that the new child will be a U.S. citizen. Up until now, illegal aliens were prohibited from Medicaid prenatal services.

Those who have come to depend on illegal immigrant employees have made it clear that they intend not only to oppose new reforms but to try to reverse some of them.

The State Chamber of Commerce released their 2007 legislative platform in which they indicated opposition to additional reforms. Governor Brad Henry signed off on the above mentioned expansion of the welfare system for illegal immigrants and a member of the Oklahoma Senate has announced that he will attempt to roll back certain provisions of 1804.

There is no doubt that advocates who wish to stop reform and maintain the current status quo have deep pockets and will be willing to spend large amounts of money to get their way.

Even so, I am confident there are enough members of the House of Representatives committed to defeating attempts to roll back reforms already passed into law. I am hopeful that future common sense reforms will also be passed and am especially committed to the reform of making English the official language of the State of Oklahoma.

If you would like to visit with Rep. Terrill in person, you will soon have that opportunity. He has agreed to attend one of the House District 31 upcoming "Town Hall" meetings. For more information about these meetings, please visit www.housedistrict31.com or you may call my office at 557-7350.

The Good News On Legislative Pay

The Good News On Legislative Pay

One of my most enjoyable jobs as State Representative has been providing those I represent with a weekly update on events occurring in State Government. I have also enjoyed the opportunity to respond to feedback from these updates.

Some of the most pronounced and decisive feedback received has been response to the inappropriately high level of compensation received by Oklahoma legislators. In a recent column, I wrote about a controversial decision by the legislative compensation board to give Oklahoma's part time legislators the same medical benefits as Oklahoma state employees. This results in an approximate increase of twelve thousand dollars per year for Oklahoma legislators (although it is important to note that legislators without family dependants will be unable to leverage that amount of money). This is in addition to the third highest pay in the nation for a part time legislature, a large per diem expense reimbursement for some legislators, and a retirement system that is paying some retired elected officials more than they made while holding office.

The feedback I have received on this issue has come from people representing a wide range of professions and walks of life who are outraged at paying a high level of taxes inappropriately spent in this manner.

While I agree and sympathize 100% with this outrage, I believe it is important to communicate some good news and acknowledge that there are efforts to bring change to the system.

One of these efforts was launched this year by Edmond State Representatives Ken Miller and Marion Cooksey. Miller and Cooksey proposed a bill that would enable legislators to opt out of the state insurance program, presumably to be covered by their own employment plans. This would save taxpayers thousands of dollars. The bill passed the House but was inexplicably tied up in the Senate.

An effort by Representative Trebor Worthen to deny retirement benefits to legislators who commit a felony was successfully voted into law. This common sense legislation was necessitated by the revelation that former Senator Gene Stipe was still eligible for thousands of dollars of taxpayer funds.

Earlier this year I submitted legislation that would lower the pay of Oklahoma legislators to the average salary of Oklahomans and keep it indexed to that average. I believe this would provide the important free market concept of incentive to Oklahoma legislators to support pro-growth policies, such as elimination of the state income tax. However, because this proposal requires a large upfront cut in legislative salaries, it faces an uphill battle.

As always, I am committed to supporting common sense reforms regarding how your taxpayer dollars are spent.

Trying To Stop Property Taxes From Increasing

Trying To Stop Property Taxes From Increasing

During the last few days, chances are that you received your property tax bill. I would also guess that this bill reflects a 5% increase in your assessment over last year. This is the time of year when my office receives calls from citizens experiencing the challenge of coming up with a larger than ever property tax payment. Second only to the issue of road improvements, I believe the issue of higher property taxes is the one I hear about the most.

I believe the property tax to be the most unfair form of taxation. This tax punishes a person for simply daring to own something and taxes them over and over again for the same property.

In 2007, I co-authored a bill by Oklahoma City State Representative Guy Liebmann which would have decreased the 5% assessment increase cap to 3% or the increase in the consumer price index, whichever is lower. Liebmann's bill passed in the House but, unfortunately, has been held up in the Senate. It is my hope that the Senate will take action on the bill this year, as it is clear that people are getting more and more frustrated with the increases they are experiencing. As property taxes continue to rise, more citizens are being priced into buying a house beneath what they could otherwise afford. Others are faced with the dilemma of whether to sell their property or pay the high tax rate. The challenges faced by individuals with fixed incomes is forcing the legislature to make exceptions to the number of people who have to pay increased rates. These exceptions place the burden of paying property tax onto a shrinking base of property owners.

While the average property tax bill has shot skyward, the homestead exemption which allows homeowners to pay a lower bill has not increased over the years. Logan County Commissioner Mark Sharpton has requested that I propose legislation which would increase homestead exemption. I also plan to propose indexing homestead exemption to the consumer price index so that over time, the exemption will continue to grow with inflation.

The passage of these two pieces of legislation would be a good start to slowing the increase of property taxes. However, in order to have true reform and property tax reduction, we must address the problem at its source. Approximately 85% of property taxes go to Oklahoma's education system. This money is in addition to the approximate amount of 3.5 billion dollars that we appropriate for common and higher ed. A report by the Oklahoma Council on Public Affairs demonstrates that Oklahoma taxpayers probably spend about $12,000 per year for each student we educate.

Oklahoma should offer a $4,000 tax credit to those parents who choose to educate their children in the private sector where they can receive a more cost-effective education. This would empower parents with the ability to determine where their children receive an education (one of the most important choices a parent will make) and would save taxpayers about two-thirds of the cost we are now paying. This common sense move would allow for dramatic reduction in property taxation and significantly shrink the size of state government. Smaller state government means the government will have less influence over our lives, an important value I believe most Oklahomans share. This is one of the reforms I am committed to supporting as your State Representative.

Paying Oklahoma Politicians

Recently, the board that functions as the oversight authority for how Oklahoma's Senators and Representatives are compensated, made the controversial decision to provide part-time legislators with the same health benefits that full-time state employees receive. This equates to an approximate twelve thousand dollar per year raise for Oklahoma legislators.

The decision reminded me of when I was in grade school and our principal told us the story of how at the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin spoke in opposition to paying a salary to the President. Franklin stated, "There are two passions which have a powerful influence on the affairs of men. These are ambition and avarice; the love of power, and the love of money. Separately each of these has great force in prompting men to action; but when united in view of the same object, they have in many minds the most violent effects. Place before the eyes of such men a post of honour that shall be at the same time a place of profit, and they will move heaven and earth to obtain it." My principal felt that Franklin's point of view was correct and his story instilled in me the belief that is important for public service to be a sacrifice and not an occupation.

I believe another important principle felt by our founding fathers is that of the "citizen legislature." Instead of having a government that is run by professionally paid politicians, the government should be overseen by a group of citizens who are "sacrificing" a few years of their lives to do their duty as citizens. Once that duty is performed, those citizens will return to the populace to live under the same laws they helped to make.

There is little doubt that Oklahoma's legislators currently make enough at their jobs for their work to be considered an occupation. Oklahoma possess the third highest paid part time legislature in the nation and it appears that when cost of living is factored in, they are the highest paid part-time legislators in the nation. Oklahoma's elected officials have fantastic retirement benefits. An Oklahoma elected official who stays in some sort of state position for 25 years will likely make a higher salary in retirement than he or she made in office. And now, Oklahoma's part-time elected officials will share the same benefits plan that full-time state employees have.

There are those who will state that in order for us to attract top talent to Oklahoma's legislature, we should pay a high salary. I respond to these arguments by pointing out that although Oklahoma has had one of the highest paid legislatures for many years, the state still appears to trail other states in many of the key indicators of economic health. Conversely, a state like Texas, which pays its legislators approximately 1/7th of the salary Oklahoma pays, fares much better economically. This seems to suggest that strong economic prosperity correlates better with low legislative pay.

Others will suggest that a highly paid legislature is less susceptible to bribery. In response I simply point out Oklahoma's history of legislative corruption, including the ongoing fallout from the federal prosecution of former Senator Gene Stipe and his legislative allies. It seems to me that a significant legislative stipend only wets the appetite of Oklahoma's leaders for more money.

I believe as did Franklin that public service should be a major sacrifice for those seeking it. I am committed to supporting legislation that would bring Oklahoma closer to this goal.

Sould Private Companies Be Allowed To Own Our Roads?

Should Private Companies Be Allowed To Own Our Roads?

As a member of the House of Representative's Transportation Committee I was able to closely observe one of the most controversial issues of the past legislative session. At issue is Oklahoma's membership in a group known as the North America SuperCorridor Coalition (NASCO), the desire of big corporations to enhance the movement of Chinese-manufactured goods throughout North America, the possible privatization of new state and federal highways, NASCO's desire to deploy sophisticated tracking devices along I-35 and clear attempts towards the creation of a closer economic and political union between Canada, the United States and Mexico.

The depth of this subject matter is nearly overwhelming and because of it's complexity I only have time to talk about a small segment of it in this update. I take the duty of informing my constituents of these events very seriously and thus look forward to continuing to update you on these issues in the future.

In last week's update I talked about what I feel is the inappropriate and frightening alliance of big business with big government. Nowhere is this abuse more clear than when big companies buy long term leases of public roads. You can only imagine how your power as a citizen is minimized when a big (and likely foreign owned) corporation has complete control over a public road on which you depend in order to get where you need to go.

The issue of private ownership of public roads is in its infancy in Oklahoma but growing after Texas has planned out the construction of the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) network over the next 50 years to be financed by Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte, S.A., (Cintra) a foreign investment consortium based in Spain. Cintra will own the leasing and operating rights on TTC highways for 50 years after the construction is complete.

The TTC initiative begun in 2002 focused on building a superhighway parallel to Interstate 35. It seems that proponents of this privately owned super transit corridor intend on linking Mexican ports through Oklahoma to an inland port to be located in Kansas City and from there to various distribution points throughout North America.

A communist Chinese owned company known as Hutchison Ports Holdings is paying billions to deepen the Mexican ports of Manzanillo and Lazaro Cardenas in anticipation of the arrival of container mega-ships capable of holding up to 12,500 containers currently being built for Chinese shipping lines. These ports would likely serve as a starting point for Chinese goods that would be distributed into the United States along the super highway corridor.

The aforementioned group, NASCO, is not only advocating for an I-35 trade corridor but is also pushing for the creation of a tracking system known as NAFTRACS to be put in place along I-35. This technology would be developed in part by a joint venture owned by Hutchison Ports Holdings. NAFTRACS has been described by NASCO as a program that provides management tools for mitigating or minimizing traffic congestion and collecting the status of certain items in transit. The data generated by these sensors would be shared with the joint venture although it is not clear if the data would be shared with the Chinese government owners of the joint interest. In May of this year, NASCO requested that the Oklahoma Department of Transportation sign a letter stating that ODOT was looking forward to participating in the tracking program.

During the last legislative session it was discovered that Oklahoma is a dues paying member of NASCO. In other words your taxpayer dollars are helping finance this organization. In the next few weeks Senator Randy Brogden (R-Owasso) will be filing a bill which I intend to co-sponsor that will remove Oklahoma from theNASCO coalition. And, as your Representative I am committed to opposing any attempts to allow private ownership of public roads.

Tax Cuts Vrs. Pork

Last week I was surprised when the leadership of one of the groups which has traditionally supported smaller government came out in opposition to reducing taxes. The comments were made by leaders of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce and the Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce at a recent hearing of the House of Representative's Economic Development and Financial Services Committee.

I have always articulated the common sense belief that the best way to reduce the size of government is through reducing the level of taxation. With less money, the government will naturally tend to prioritize the limited number of functions it should be involved in and leave the rest to the free market. I have also observed that groups who oppose tax relief are probably afraid of having a pet program of their own de-funded by this prioritization process.

It has become clear that the leadership of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce understands this viewpoint all too well. And, shockingly, they appear to fear that if state government continues to cut taxes, one of their pet programs may not be funded to their level of satisfaction.

The pet program is known as the Oklahoma Opportunity Fund. It is funded with $45 million of our taxpayer dollars. Most of that money has already been spent. Because the manner in which the fund was created has been ruled unconstitutional, the sole discretion for how the money is spent appears to have been left to Governor Brad Henry. Henry recently approved spending $10 million out of the fund on improvements benefiting a privately owned airline.

In opposing the continuation of tax relief for Oklahomans, the economic development director of the Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce said, "I would take the Opportunity Fund over future tax cuts in a heartbeat."

I do not believe it is right for the government to take money away from taxpayers and give it to targeted businesses. I certainly do not think it is right that politicians are given the power to play God when it comes to deciding who the winners are in the business world. The process of government subsidizing business operations is completely contrary to the important free market principles that empower consumers to decide who will be successful, based on which business is providing the best product at the best price.

I do not believe it is appropriate for chambers of commerce to advocate for a fund that benefits such a small number of business. This is at the expense of all the hard working business owners across Oklahoma who are forced to pay high taxes which inhibit their ability to grow their own businesses.

And, I do not think it is right or fair for Opportunity Fund money to be used to entice new businesses to move to Oklahoma when they will be competing with businesses that are already in Oklahoma. Taxing one business and then giving money to a competitor is not right.

This latest position reflects one more step in what is becoming a disturbing trend. Big business is partnering with and being empowered by big government. I believe it is important for the small business members of the Chambers of Commerce across Oklahoma to reassert themselves and reclaim control of the organization that is supposed to represent all Oklahoma businessmen, not a select few.

Murphey Update

Here is my column for this week.

Thank you so much,
Jason

Meeting With The People

Prior to being on the general election ballot as a candidate for State Representative, I developed a position that if elected, I would institute a constituent contact program that excelled at representing the citizens of House District 31.

The program includes an organized system for not only processing incoming constituent casework, but reaching out and generating opportunities for constituent concerns to be addressed. It also includes a network of constituent advisory committees, a weekly legislative update, an end of session report, a post-session door to door tour of the district, and targeting growth areas for new voter registration.

I have enjoyed implementing this program. It has allowed me to make a great number of new contacts, and most importantly, has kept me in contact with citizens. I feel that one of the ways special interest lobbyists have been able to have such a strong voice in state government has been because of a strong disconnect between the people and the "state capitol" environment. I think the proper focus for a state representative should be in his or her district, with the people, as opposed to lobbyist hosted events in Oklahoma City.

One of the most exciting aspects of the program is a series of town hall meetings I have scheduled in order to communicate with local residents on a number of issues. Other state and local officials plan to be present also. I encourage all who are interested to attend.

In September, the Guthrie Lions Club graciously hosted the first such meeting in Guthrie with Speaker of the House of Representatives, Lance Cargill. This meeting allowed attendees to share with Cargill their ideas for how Oklahoma government should look in the next century. These ideas are now posted online at 100ideasok.org.

On November 6th, at 7:00 pm, the second forum will be held at the Philadelphia Church of God field house at Bryant and Simmons Roads. The meeting will focus on road related issues and property tax reform. Attendees will include State Senator Patrick Anderson, Logan County Commissioner Mark Sharpton and Oklahoma Department of Transportation Director Casey Shell.

On December 4th, at 7:00 pm, the third forum will occur at Woodcrest Fire Station at Douglas and Charter Oak Roads. This meeting will also focus on road related issues. County Commissioner Kevin Leech will be attending.

On January 15th, at 7:00 pm, the fourth forum will be be held at Pioneer Telephone in Crescent. The meeting will focus on the upcoming legislative session and all issues of relevance to Northern Logan County residents. State Senator Patrick Anderson will be in attendance. County Commissioner Monty Piercy may also be present.

On January 22nd, at 7:00 pm, the fifth forum will occur at Waterloo Road Baptist Church. The meeting will focus on tax reform issues. Attending will be Representative Randy Terrill, who as Chairman of the House Revenue and Tax Committee, is a leader in the fight for tax reform.

I look forward to these meetings and the opportunity to communicate with Logan and Oklahoma County residents on the issues important to them.

Murphey Legislative Update

One of the experiences I have most enjoyed as State Representative has been the role of Vice-Chairman and ranking Republican on the House of Representative's Homeland Security Committee.

When designing the new house committee system, house leadership structured the system so that members of the committees could really focus on specialized areas of committee work. They did this by giving the committees both appropriation and policy oversight in their respective areas. It has been exciting to serve as Vice-Chairman of a committee where I could specialize in an area in which there is a core purpose for government involvement.

In this role, I recently joined Oklahoma State Fire Marshal Robert Doke and a delegation of state government and firefighting officials in visiting the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). There we met with FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison. Administrator Paulson was complimentary of the manner in which Oklahoma officials have handled past emergencies and is supportive of the efforts made in developing additional emergency readiness.

One of the reasons for meeting with Paulison related to developing a truly interoperable 800mhz statewide emergency communications system to allow officials in different agencies to communicate with one another. This issue was perhaps the most controversial that our committee considered in the past year.

The development of the 800mhz system took on added importance after the 2006 Oklahoma wildfires. During this emergency, responders had enormous difficulty communicating and organizing an effective response because there is no statewide system through which responders from one county or region can communicate with another. Law enforcement would also greatly benefit from a system that would allow the highway patrol to communicate with local officers when responding to incidents.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has provided nearly $30 million to Oklahoma in federal funds to set up an 800mhz system along the Interstate 44 corridor which would cover the state's most populous areas. However, the state would need $130 million more in order to cover the entire state. While millions have been spent on the current system, it appears as if the usage of that system is still limited to the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety. This defeats the obvious purpose of the 800mhz system, which should be to allow all police and fire entities to talk to each other. It is difficult to justify why so many millions of dollars have been spent on a project that does not accomplish the main purpose for which it should be intended.

I believe that new options should be considered for a more cost-effective, internet-based communications system similar to OneNet, the system the State Regents for Higher Education use to provide high-speed communications to Oklahoma entities such as public schools, colleges, universities and local, tribal, state and federal governments. OneNet utilizes fiber optics and wireless technologies to transmit video, voice and data throughout Oklahoma.

This year I co-sponsored a bill authored by Representative Charles Key that would have begun the process of developing an internet based system. While the Key Bill is still pending in committee, it is clear that more state officials are beginning to get on board with the plan to develop a less expensive, but truly interoperable system. This important reform can't happen soon enough, as I believe millions of taxpayer dollars would be saved.

As your State Representative I remain committed to working for the enactment of these types common sense reforms.

Taking Your Money And Giving It To Illegal Aliens

Taking Your Money And Giving It To Illegal Aliens

A board of unelected state officials recently shocked some of us in the legislature by taking action to approve a proposal to spend taxpayer dollars in the creation of a permanent and unconditional expansion of the welfare system. This was in violation of the clear legislative intent expressed in this year's illegal immigration reform bill.

The Oklahoma Health Care Authority, which administers Oklahoma's Medicaid program, voted to approve emergency rules granting taxpayer-subsidized medical coverage to pregnant illegal aliens on the theory that the new child will be a U.S. citizen upon birth. As it is now, illegal aliens are prohibited from Medicaid prenatal services.

This is being done despite the fact that federal law dictates this action may occur only after a state's legislature has given approval. The Oklahoma Legislature has not authorized any expansion of Medicaid for illegal aliens.

Making matters worse, Governor Brad Henry indicated he will sign off on this expansion of the welfare system. In taking this action, the OHCA board and Governor Henry seem to be saying that the taxpayers of Oklahoma should be forced to act as a welfare state for the rest of the world. Oklahoma will join only 12 other states across the nation who have a program like this.

The financial impact of this decision will be about $3 million a year, with $1.19 million coming directly from state funds and the rest from our federal tax dollars. The Oklahoma Health Care Authority reports it is delivering 2,767 babies each year to illegal parents, which costs state taxpayers in excess of $8 million.

This action is likely to provide additional enticement for illegal immigration into the United States. If an illegal alien can give birth to in America, the child automatically becomes an American citizen. When the child turns 18, he or she can in turn sponsor relatives for permanent U.S. residency. By using taxpayer dollars to fund this process, state government is directly enabling those who wish to bypass immigration laws.

It is my strong belief that this is yet another example of how harmful situations are produced by big government. As citizens, we have allowed government to take so much money from us in the form of massive taxation that it has become almost impossible to hold government responsible for their decisions on how the money is spent.

I also question the timing of the emergency rule approval. I do not feel it is a coincidence that the "emergency" occurred just days before House Bill 1804, the Illegal Immigration Reform Bill, takes effect.

It appears the Health Care Authority unsuccessfully attempted to extend prenatal coverage to illegal aliens through the Legislature for the past two years. Now, however, the recent vote seems to be an end-run around the clear will of the people's elected officials.

I believe we will be successful in reversing the decision during the next session of the legislature. I will certainly support the effort to keep your tax dollars from being misused in regard to this issue.

Cutting The Size of State Government

Cutting The Size of Oklahoma Government

This fall the House will impanel what I believe to be one of the most important studies of the legislative interim. Representative Ken Miller from Edmond, Vice-Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, will lead a study into consolidating state government agencies.

Last week in my constituent update, I wrote that in order for Oklahoma to compete with Texas for economic development, I believe we must eliminate the state income tax. Eliminating this tax can occur in much faster order if we also do the right thing and cut the size of state government.

Miller's committee is charged with making recommendations to do just that. Speaker of the House Lance Cargill has indicated he is determined to incorporate the findings of Miller's committee into legislation next year.

In order to lay the groundwork for the consolidation study, Speaker Cargill commissioned the House Staff to compare the size of Oklahoma government to the government in surrounding states.

This was not the easiest job, because believe it or not, no official count of the number of state agencies, boards and commissions (ABCs) is even kept by state government. Can you imagine what would happen to a private business in the free market if it could not provide an official accounting of its organizational structure?

In fact, the size of Oklahoma government is so big that the only way to count the number of Oklahoma state agencies is to use a publication of the Oklahoma Department of Libraries which lists contact information for state officials.

The house study returned some shocking results. When Oklahoma was compared with 5 other states of similar size, it was determined that Oklahoma had 515 ABCs, while the other five states of Kentucky, Arkansas, Iowa, Oregon and Kansas averaged 210 ABCs each. The number of ABCs in Oklahoma is almost two and one half times the size of comparable states.

Not surprisingly, the study found that Oklahoma's ABCs have grown at a steady pace over time. In 1957 there were 115 ABCs, in 1977 there were 215 and in 1997 there were 470.

Since 1928 there have been no less than seven statewide studies that recommended reorganization of state government and a reduction of ABCs. Yet there is little record that any action was taken on those reports.

It is my hope that Representative Miller's study will be the first such study to be acted on in a significant manner. I believe it is our duty as legislators to honor the desire of Oklahomans for smaller government. I am committed to helping Miller and Cargill make this desire become reality.

Eliminating The Income Tax

Eliminating The Income Tax

One of the issues I have long advocated is the need for state government to eliminate the progressive state income tax. I think it is bad policy for the government to tax someone for earning money. I believe this takes away incentive for individuals to work hard and be productive, especially when the benefits of relying on welfare are so substantial. I also believe it is difficult for Oklahoma to compete with Texas for economic growth when there is no income tax in Texas.

This year the legislature cut the uppermost income tax percentage to 5.5%. However, this number was far short of the effort launched by the Chairman of the House Revenue and Tax Committee, Representative Randy Terrill of Moore. Terrill, who has been one of the foremost advocates for eliminating the income tax originally sought to lower the top tax rate to 4.65% by 2009. While the Terrill effort was approved by the House Revenue and Tax Committee, it was later sidelined in favor of the 5.5% rate.

Terrill is continuing the effort to reduce the income tax by holding a series of hearings with his committee.

During one of the recent hearings, Phil Kerpen, the national policy director for Americans for Prosperity told the committee that Oklahoma cannot afford to stop the effort to lower the income tax if Oklahoma wants to continue to attract new citizens and businesses. He explained that Oklahoma is not just competing with other states, but is competing in a global economy. There is a 6% corporate tax rate in Oklahoma on top of a 35% federal rate, for a combined 41% corporate tax rate. When the state franchise tax is added in, there is a 43% effective tax rate on companies that do business in Oklahoma - all this before their officers even have to consider paying personal income tax.

Kerpen said that in Europe the average corporate tax is about 25%. In some Asian countries it is even lower. The idea that people can be taxed at whatever rate the government wants and continue to stay and pay high taxes is an antiquated one. People are very mobile and capital is even more mobile. If Oklahoma is going to compete in the global economy and succeed, we need a much lower tax rate.

Between 1980 and 2006, Oklahoma’s real Gross Domestic Product growth lagged behind all neighboring states, according to figures referenced by Kerpen. Oklahoma’s real GDP growth during that period was less than half the rate experienced in New Mexico, Texas and Colorado. Private job growth in Oklahoma lagged far behind Texas, New Mexico and Colorado from 1990 to 2006 as well.

Kerpen also stated that the individual income tax rate is one of the real drivers that determine where people decide to live, how many hours they work and how many businesses they start. It has an incentive effect on all sorts of economic activity. The more you tax people, the less reward they have for working, saving and investing. The result is that they do less in all of those areas. Legislators claim to understand the link between taxes and behavior when it comes to things like cigarette taxes, which are touted as a way to reduce smoking. But for some reason, many lawmakers ignore the fact that taxes on income have the same effect.

The House Revenue and Taxation Subcommittee is expected to conduct several more meetings on the tax issue through November and hear from other national experts. Hopefully, these hearings will continue to bring attention to the need for true state tax reform.

Effort Launched To Divert Lottery Money From Education

Effort Launched To Divert Lottery Money From Education

In 2002, while campaigning for Governor, Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry campaigned on a platform of financing Oklahoma public education through creation of the Oklahoma lottery. The lottery concept appears to have been presented to Oklahomans as a magic bullet to cure Oklahoma's education challenges, not unlike the House Bill 1017 sales tax increase, which was also presented to Oklahoma voters as an education solution. The lottery was to provide $500 million to the education system.

It is in fact generating only about $70 million per year for public education. This represents about 14% of the money originally predicted. For instance, in fiscal year 2008 lottery revenue will make up only around 2% - 3% of the amount state government gives to the local school districts in Crescent, Guthrie and Edmond. Worse still, Oklahoma politicians, in their haste to spend the money, have incurred millions of dollars of long term debt that must be paid back out of those revenues.

Since the lottery is performing so badly, in a move to cut costs, the Oklahoma Lottery Commission has moved its offices upstairs, turned the first floor of their building into rental space and opted not to refill four vacant staff positions.

Director Jim Scroggins and other officials with the Lottery Commission have announced that in order to cope with these issues, they will ask lawmakers to cut education funding by diverting some of the lottery revenue from education. Commission officials want part of the money spent for administrative costs and promotional efforts instead of public schools. Commission officials have been arguing for the diversion since last March.

The plan has met with strong opposition from leadership in the House of Representatives. Representative Chris Benge from Tulsa, who chairs the Appropriations and Budget Committee stated that "The voters of Oklahoma were told lottery profits would go to our schools and any effort to divert that money is a violation of the voters' trust."

In explaining the shortfall, Scroggins said the Oklahoma lottery competes with Indian gaming for revenue. According to the Office of State Finance, gross revenue from casinos in fiscal year 2007 was $777 million, compared to the approximate gross of $215 million spent on the Oklahoma lottery (with $70 million being sent to education).

I appreciate and support the leadership shown by Chairman Benge in keeping our commitment to the voters.

I expect that the failure of the lottery will lead lottery proponents to continue to propose various forms of lottery expansion, such as the addition of video lottery, Keno and pull-tabs. I also believe an effort will be made for the State of Oklahoma to compete with the tribes by getting into the casino business through the operation of state owned casinos.

In my view, growth of state sponsored gambling, combined with tribal gambling, will encourage Oklahoma politicians to call for expanding the welfare safety net for the poor, the largest societal group negatively affected by gambling losses.

We saw the results of similar expansion this year as legislators increased Medicaid eligibility limits, spending millions of your tax dollars in the process. How much sense does it make for government to seek to enhance government revenue by growing a gambling system that takes money from the poor, while at the same time spending millions on an increasing welfare system?

It appears to me that the primary net result of this bizarre, circular chain of events is an increase of government spending and government influence over people's lives.

Rather than conniving new ways to make money for government, state leaders should focus on diminishing the size and influence of government. I believe we all win when government interference in our lives is lessened. I am committed to supporting policies that achieve this goal.

Your Chance To Help Reform Oklahoma Government

Your Chance To Help Reform Government

This week Logan County residents will have a chance to participate in an exciting centennial event. They also may be able to help shape the way Oklahoma state government operates for the next 100 years.

This Thursday night, September 20, at 7:00 pm, a forum will be held at Guthrie city hall in the city council chambers. Known as the "100 Ideas Program," the forum will be constituted to raise ideas and suggestions from attendees for changes to Oklahoma government.

The program is the idea of Speaker of the House Lance Cargill, from Harrah. Cargill has appointed former State Representative Thad Balkman to head the program and hold meetings all across Oklahoma in order to generate as many ideas for change as possible. Following these meetings a book will be published containing some of the ideas. The publication can then be used by the legislature for possible legislative action in the future.

Earlier this year, Speaker Cargill used the occasion of his opening address to the House of Representatives to announce the 100 Ideas Program and encouraged legislators to support and contribute to the program. The Speaker expressed his desire to ensure that all Oklahomans have an opportunity to provide their input on how they would like to see business conducted in Oklahoma during the next 100 years.

At the close of this year's legislative session, Representative Balkman asked State Representatives to facilitate a forum in their home districts. Speaker Cargill expressed his belief that there could not be a more appropriate place to have this centennial year event than in the county that hosted Oklahoma's first capitol.

The leadership of the Guthrie Lions' Club graciously agreed to host the event in conjunction with the Guthrie Chamber of Commerce. On behalf of the Lions' Club, Former State Representative Frank Davis and Wayne Elder have filled the important role of ensuring that the proper local support is provided to the 100 Ideas Organization.

Perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of the program is that a live telecast will be provided of the event on the City of Guthrie government channel (Channel 20 on Cox).

Representative Balkman has indicated that of all of the similar forums held across Oklahoma, this will be the first 100 Ideas Forum that will be televised in this manner.

I believe one of most important changes that can be applied to state government is opening up government proceedings to the people through C-SPAN for state government. In advocating for the creation of the state government telecast, I have pointed to the success of the local Guthrie government television channel. Having the 100 Ideas Program on local television is a demonstration of this success.

I encourage everyone to attend the 100 Ideas Program and to offer plenty of ideas for the reform of Oklahoma government.

Murphey Legislative Update

On Monday of this week the board that oversees the Oklahoma Department of Transportation voted to take action on an important traffic concern facing many residents of south Logan and north Oklahoma counties.

Anyone who travels Waterloo Road as it crosses under Interstate 35 around 8 a.m. or 5:30 p.m. should be able to attest to the need for a solution to the gridlock created by the increased traffic burden at this intersection. In the morning westbound traffic backs up towards Pine and commuters are forced to wait for access to the southbound on-ramp. In the evenings the I-35 off-ramp backs up and those traveling home from work are forced to wait for access onto Waterloo road.

This traffic jam causes some drivers to avoid the intersection altogether by traveling county maintained side roads. This extra traffic places an additional burden on our county roadways.

As a candidate and an office holder I have been approached by residents of this area who have indicated that the problems created by the intersection have caused serious traffic-related concerns. Those who are forced to traverse this intersection have been clear in their desire for a solution to the problem.

I believe that the ultimate solution would be the creation of a new on and off ramp at Charter Oak Road and I-35. However, in the short term it has been made clear that the exchange at I-35 and Waterloo Road should be re-worked.

Earlier this year I asked ODOT officials to check into the situation. Based on their study of the problems created by traffic at the Waterloo Road/I-35 overpass they have recommended re-working the flow of traffic under the underpass. The recommendation includes the placement of two three-way stops on each side of the interstate. This solution would give those who are traveling from the east clear access to enter I-35 going south. It would also provide direct access to Waterloo Road for those exiting off of I-35.

Since receiving word of the ODOT recommendation I have requested the input of a number of individuals who commute through this intersection. Their feedback has been mixed. Some feel the addition of the new stop signs will simply slow traffic down and create more congestion. Others feel that the signage will allow quicker access and as such provide a solution.

On Monday the Transportation Commission officially approved the recommendation. Thus, the new signage should be in place shortly. I respectfully request your input and feedback on how you feel this solution affects the flow of traffic either positively or negatively. If the desired solution is not realized there are certainly other options that could be explored including the placement of traffic lights and possibly the widening of lanes.

I am always happy to assist constituents with traffic-related concerns. Please do not hesitate to inform me of other areas in Logan and Oklahoma counties where there is a need for a similar solution.

Properly Funding Roads

During the past two months, the House Transportation Committee has been holding an interim study regarding road issues. This study is occurring at a time when attention across the nation is focused on road and bridge issues following the I-35 bridge collapse in Minnesota.

During the study,the chairman of the House General Government & Transportation Committee declared his intent to author legislation that would ensure that funding for state roads and bridges is increased by at least $50 million each year.

Legislation approved in 2006 provides for yearly increases of up to $50 million per year for Oklahoma roads until $200 million in new funding is achieved. However, the law contained a "trigger" that limited the annual increase to just $17.5 million if total state collections grew less than 3 percent in a year. This year, early revenue estimates indicated growth was below the 3-percent target and only $17.5 million in new money was approved for road-and-bridge maintenance. However, revised estimates later revealed that state collections grew more than 3 percent but the new funding for roads and bridges was still limited to $17.5 million. This revenue stream is the funding source for the Department of Transportation's 8 year plan. If this bill is not approved and there are future shortages in the growth of state revenue, then funding is endangered for projects listed in the 8 year plan.

On the local level, this is funding that is to be used for such projects as replacement of the Seward Road bridge over I-35 and construction of a new Guthrie viaduct over Cottonwood Creek. In order to see first hand the importance of replacing bad bridges, I would encourage those who are interested to drive beneath the Guthrie viaduct and view the deteriorating underside of the bridge.

In addition to needs faced by the state highway system, I have sought to bring attention to problems faced by county roads, with a particular emphasis on those in counties with growing populations. All around the Tulsa and Oklahoma City metro areas, rural counties are exploding in population growth. The aging road infrastructure in these counties has to keep up with the massive amount of traffic generated from new growth. For instance, on Waterloo Road along the Logan and Oklahoma County border, traffic counts indicate thousands of cars enter and exit from Logan County.

Earlier this year, Senator Patrick Anderson and I implemented a strategy of introducing both House and Senate versions of nearly identical legislation that would provide funding for these counties by directing money from motor vehicle tax funds away from the general revenue fund and into a special High Use County Road Fund. Despite the fact that 2006 legislation has begun the process of placing motor vehicle tax funds in the County Bridge and Road Improvement fund, over 50% of the money that we pay for motor vehicle taxes is still diverted for non-road related purposes.

In our efforts to rectify this, Logan County Commissioner Mark Sharpton has been a strong ally. As Chairman of the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments (ACOG), he is able to speak out on county road funding issues with credibility. Senator Anderson, who represents part of Logan County, has also been a foremost advocate of properly financing county roads. Anderson's bill in the Senate provides a second legislative vehicle in case the house version is unsuccessful.

As always, your comments and feedback are greatly appreciated at 557-7350 or online at www.HouseDistrict31.com.

Focusing On What Matters

Recently the Oklahoma Superintendent of Education announced her plan for Oklahoma schools to have several days added to their school year and an additional hour tacked onto the school day. In her presentation, Superintendent Sandy Garrett referenced the success of the Charter School KIPP Academy. KIPP students attend school from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm and twice-monthly on Saturdays.

Principal Tracy McDaniel of KIPP Academy pointed out that going to school for more hours is fine but it will not make a difference if core scholastic instruction is not present during those days.

This comment was backed by feedback I received from an Oklahoma teacher. His letter said in part:

"Our current layout calls for 175 days of classroom instruction and five days of staff development. I can tell you that most of our students are not in the classroom 175 days out of the year. Or even 150 for that matter.

"I am just tired of going to work 175 days a year and facing the many obstacles thrown in my path. It's not just the sports... the countless local, state, and national organizational meetings, dress up days and kids getting out of class to judge schoolmates and have pictures made (we had 10 of them last year), science fairs, speech contests, creed contests, drug meetings, sex ed meetings, homecoming practices and decorations, BETA installations, cooking and decorating for various organizational dinners and prom, class meetings, visits from class ring, athletic shoes for every sport, sr. picture, and letter jacket salespeople, weekly school meetings, people bringing flowers and balloons on Valentine's day, picture days, local, county and state stock shows, students reading for elementary children, students missing class to lifeguard at the local pool for coaches who take their elementary PE classes to swim, and on and on and on. Every minute these things are going on students are not in the classroom - it adds up quickly.

"If we had them in school, free of distraction, for 150 or 175 or 190 days a year, there are no limits to what we could achieve. Our kids are not dumb and our teachers are not inadequate. We just need to be allowed to do our job without interference.

"If the legislature adds 15 days, let them be dead weeks or blacklist weeks. Say these are 15 days where no extracurricular activities can take place, and I promise it will be the most educationally beneficial 15 days of school the State of Oklahoma has seen since the day we wandered out of our one room school houses and the first ping of a public school baseball bat echoed across the prairie."

Can you imagine being a teacher in our public school system and competing with all of those activities? When forced to deal with countless extracurricular events and government mandated political correctness it is no wonder our teachers and administrators are facing such an uphill battle.

I believe this is one of the reasons that alternative forms of education have been so successful. In the KIPP Charter School, students tend to focus on academics. In a recent Oklahoman story, a KIPP student was quoted as saying, “Before, my dream was basketball or something like that. Now, I want to be a businessman, and KIPP helped me set my goal.” The possibility of academic success is enhanced when students are allowed to focus on what is really important.

As always please continue to supply me with your feedback. It is greatly appreciated. I have placed the entire letter from the teacher on my blog, which can be accessed from www.HouseDistrict31.com.

Giving Oklahoma Students A Chance

Giving Oklahoma Students A Chance

One of the most exciting and encouraging events of my first year in the legislature occurred this week as I was privileged to visit the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) and meet with KIPP principle Tracy McDaniel. KIPP is an inner city charter school located on the second floor of the F.D. Moon Academy at 13th and Martin Luther King Blvd. in Oklahoma City.

A few years ago, I visited the F.D. Middle School to speak to the students. I remember thinking how deplorable the conditions of the school were and observed the lack of discipline in the students. The school was the lowest-performing in the state. Principle McDaniel explained that in the past, the school was handicapped by inadequate staff, making it difficult to achieve success. He indicated that of approximately 50 teachers, he believed 45 were simply not up to the task of providing a quality education. As a result, F.D. Moon remained one of the lowest performing schools in the state. That is when McDaniel took action. He spent a year out of state in training with the KIPP program and then returned to Oklahoma and the F.D. Moon school, where he now runs the KIPP Charter School.

Now, despite the same tremendous social and economic challenges, KIPP eighth-grade students dominated the 2006 Oklahoma Core Curriculum Test (OCCT), with 100 percent passing both the state math and writing tests and 97 percent passing the state reading test. This compares to the statewide average of 72 percent of eighth graders passing the math test and 59 percent of Oklahoma City students passing it. The average Academic Performance Index (API) score for all Oklahoma students is 1180. The average score for Oklahoma City students is 1006. Students attending KIPP averaged 1393 out of 1500, which surpassed even Oklahoma City’s Classen School of Advanced Studies, the 17th best high school in the country according to Newsweek. Records indicate that 73 percent of those who enter KIPP at the fifth grade level read at a third-grade level or less, but by the time students reach eighth grade, 97 percent are passing the state reading test.

KIPP students attend school from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm and twice-monthly on Saturdays. Students are encouraged to call teachers after hours if they have problems with homework. McDaniel uses these calls as a way of reviewing the performance of teachers. If there are a large number of calls about a particular subject, then the manner in which the concept has been taught is subject to review. As such, the job performance of McDaniel's staff is consistently analyzed and improved upon.

This idea of holding the employees (teachers), responsible to the customers (students), is one that ensures the school operates according to the established principles which are successful in the private sector and are all too absent in the world of government-run schools.

The most enjoyable part of the visit was speaking to the students about their experience at KIPP. The students are able to look you in the eye and clearly articulate how KIPP has changed their lives and their goals of continuing on to academic success in both high school and college. KIPP student career plans range from medicine and law to forensic science and engineering.

A visit to KIPP will restore faith in inner city students. If these young people can succeed in the midst of some of the worst economic conditions, think of how the program would enable the students in the rest of the state!

This year in the legislature I was able to see firsthand how advocates of a government-dominated monopoly on common education tried hard to limit the ability of these types of schools to expand. Now I understand why it is so important to them that the KIPP success story is not repeated in the future. The success of outside-the-box projects like KIPP is no doubt one of the greatest threats to the education status-quo which imprisons many inner city students in a system of government-run failure, dooming them to a life of economic blight.

As lawmakers, we owe it to future generations to enable students access to charter schools, private schools and homeschool programs which will contribute to their success.

Courts To Decide Illegal Immigration Issue

Courts To Decide Illegal Immigration Issue

Perhaps the bill approved during this legislative session with some of the most far reaching consequences was House Bill 1804. House Bill 1804 is reportedly the most stringent immigration reform bill in the nation and takes a number of dramatic steps to crack down on the illegal immigration problem.

HB 1804 is designed to stop illegals from getting both jobs and public benefits. It also contains a requirements that local law enforcement enforce federal immigration law and includes punishments for people who knowingly harbor or transport undocumented aliens.

The passage of House Bill 1804 represented the culmination of two years of work by State Representative Randy Terrill (R-Moore). The bill passed a number of hurdles including a last minute public decision by Governor Brad Henry to not veto the law. Now, the law faces what may be it's toughest challenge yet.

A group known as "The United Front Task Force" has formed as a response to House Bill 1804 and kicked off their opposition to bill by launching a public-awareness campaign, including a billboard going up in the Tulsa area. The billboard asks the question "Is if Ok ... for Oklahoma to have a law that promotes hate among people?"

Perhaps the group's most effective tool against the law is their plan to file a lawsuit before the law takes effect.

Their effort gained momentum when a federal judge in Pennsylvania struck down an illegal immigration reform law that had been passed by the small Pennsylvania town of Hazelton. The judge asserted that the town's law was pre-empted by federal law and would breach due-process rights. "Hazleton, in its zeal to control the presence of a group deemed undesirable, violated the rights of such people, as well as others within the community," he said in his opinion.

One of the attorneys who is a member of this task force is publicly soliciting for illegal immigrants to serve as plaintiffs as part of the strategy of filing lawsuits. In his solicitation attorney Russel Abbott makes the following statement. "Undocumented workers are not criminals who are here to do us harm, they are simply poor people trying to survive, and to provide for their families. Some people in Oklahoma openly hate immigrants, but I believe they are only a minority, albeit with a tendency to be extremely vocal about their beliefs. I think most Oklahomans have compassion for the less fortunate, even those who do not speak English. I believe most Oklahomans do not wish to deploy their law enforcement officers in an unnecessary and racist effort to police the American border with Mexico...National organizations, including the ACLU and MALDEF, are getting involved to help with the court case."

Representative Terrill has responded by asking the group to declare who it is that will be financing the planned lawsuits. "The failure to disclose donors prevents media scrutiny and keeps the public from knowing the real agenda of those who are promoting the judicial equivalent of a ballot measure," Terrill said. "This group is trying to use the judiciary to indirectly accomplish a goal they cannot achieve through the political process," he added.

I certainly concur with Terrill's remarks. I believe this will be a significant test of state's rights. Hopefully the federal court system will do the right thing and uphold the people of Oklahoma's right to make laws discouraging illegal immigration.

Taxpayers Should Not Be Funding Child Abusers

Last Thursday the House Human Services committee held a public hearing as part of an interim study looking into procedures by which the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) licenses child care centers.

In all of the committee meetings I have attended as a member, I have never been part of one that produced the level of public interest as this one has. Our committee room was filled to capacity as interested parties sought to view the hearing.

The interest was due to the proposal of reforms to the system by which child care centers are licensed. These reforms are in response to a tragic incident which occurred in May at a Tulsa area home day care center.

Known as the "Noah's Ark Child Care Home," the day care center received its license to operate in January 2003. Policy dictates that DHS perform three site inspections at day care centers each year. From 2003-2007, these inspections documented a number of care and safety deficiencies at the child care home. During this time, a total of eight referrals alleging various forms of physical abuse or neglect were received by DHS. The referrals were serious enough that DHS requested the center to "voluntarily" cease operations on four different occasions while the referrals were investigated. Each time the owner of the home refused the request.

In November of 2005, not only was the alleged inappropriate behavior substantiated, but the person committing the offense was caught trying to cover it up. In April of 2007, a police investigator noted eight one-half inch slash marks on the upper back of one of the children. The owner of the day care center admitted to committing the abuse. Despite this admission, DHS made the decision not to seek the closure of the center until charges were filed by the police. This decision would have tragic consequences, as one month later, a two-year-old child died after the owner of the day care center bound his hands and covered his mouth with masking tap. Incredibly, on May 17th, after this incident, the owner of the day care again refused to "voluntarily" close her day care center. DHS closed the home day care on May 18th.

In reaction to this case, DHS is proposing a series of reforms. One of these proposed reforms would streamline the process by which emergency closure orders can be issued. Another reform would require day care centers to allow immediate access to parents of recent DHS findings concerning the center in question. Some of this information will also be placed online for parents to access.

The Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth (OCCY) Office of Juvenile System Oversight, the watchdog agency for DHS, submitted to our committee a detailed report containing details of the failures of DHS and recommendations for changes. The report and work of OCCY confirms the need for the important role OCCY plays in providing an oversight role of DHS. OCCY's role was recently strengthened as a result of reforms following the Kelsey Smith-Briggs case. I feel their role needs to continue to be strengthened in the future.

I also believe that DHS should develop a policy of revoking state subsidized day care payments to those who are committing acts of abuse. One of the most frustrating facts of this case is the number of the children in this center that appear to have been subsidized by the taxpayers. This made the center little more than an extension of state government, meaning that you and I were providing the income for this person to commit these acts. I do not want my money to be used to provide an income for child abusers. Had state payments been cut off when the first case of inappropriate conduct was documented in 2005, the center may have closed. As of now, DHS shows very little inclination to address the issue of cutting off taxpayer funding for dangerous day care centers.

I remain committed to advocating for Human Services reform, but I need your help. Please continue to call me with your experiences and suggestions about Human Services issues. I can be reached at 557-7350 or online at www.HouseDistrict31.com.

Taking Our Money

I have long been an unabashed critic of the enormous influence wielded by lobbyists over government spending. My observations made during my first year in office have absolutely confirmed the validity of my concerns.

It is only common sense that the large size of government attracts a well funded group of special interests who want to buy their own corner of influence and profit off of the taxpayer. Probably the most disturbing trend that I have noted has been the number of government entities that lobby the legislature for money.

In other words, a public entity, which is funded by the taxpayers, takes taxpayer money which they will no doubt claim is desperately needed to provide vital services and instead spend it on a lobbyist, or number of lobbyists, and marketing materials. All of this spending is targeted at winning even more taxpayer money, some of which can be invested into the next year’s lobbying efforts, making the public entity even more effective in taking more of the taxpayers' hard earned funds. The lobbyists may have access to a large expense account that can be drawn on to flood legislators with gifts and entertainment. Thus, they are extremely effective at swaying legislative opinion as they have constant access to legislators while the average taxpayer has little access since he or she is busy with the day to day responsibilities faced by the average citizen in the real world outside the capitol.

Last week controversy broke out when it was claimed that the executive director of the Oklahoma Municipal League (OML) failed to notify his governing board that he had authorized a $48,000-a-year lobbying contract with the a prominent capitol lobbyist.

As you may be aware the OML represents municipal governments. When you pay your sales tax by buying an item at the store part of that tax goes to city government. Your city government uses that money to pay membership dues in the OML. The OML can use the money to buy the best lobbyist to insure the legislature makes laws that favor city governments. Government has actually gotten so big that one arm of government is taxing us to pay lobbyists to lobby another arm of government.

Worse yet, the OML actually has eight people registered to lobby for them.

OML has also entered into an agreement calling for the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) to pay the OML $49,500 a year. In exchange, OML agrees to distribute the Grand River Dam Authority's promotional materials to its members and cooperate in securing the support of other entities of state government for GRDA's programs.

The Grand River Dam Authority is also a wing of of government as it is quasi-state agency/trust that oversees hydroelectric power generation in northeastern Oklahoma.

Putting this as simply as possible, one government entity (the GRDA) is paying a collective of government entities (the OML) a fee to promote its interests. The OML is in turn investing a significant amount of money in lobbying a third government entity (the state legislature). Much if not all of this activity is financed by you and me, the taxpayers. This is enabled by years of expansion in the size of the various government entities.

Today it is the challenge of the current legislature to prevent this type of abuse by rolling back the level of taxation. Once the amount of money collected by the government is reduced the pressure will begin to take it's toll on the recipients of the government largess. This year the legislature took another small step towards this goal by accelerating cuts in the state income tax. I remain committed to continuing the push for reform by advocating for the complete elimination of the state income tax. I believe this important reform will not only provide for prosperity for Oklahomans but will be an important step towards closing down inappropriate spending.

Welfare For Film Makers

Oklahoma law books contain a number of sections tucked away into thousands of pages which allow a specific group to assert their claim to the state treasury at the expense of the taxpayers.

This August a new law will take effect making it easier for one of those groups to take the people's money. That law is known as the "Compete With Canada Film Act".

Initially established in 2001, the act was touted as being cutting edge by those who supported it. The Oklahoma Senate claimed the act would be triple the highest incentive of any state in the country in providing cash incentives to Oklahoma's film producers. The bill's author said the law would produce results similar to the state getting a professional sports franchise.

The bill provided a 15% cash rebate on money spent in the state for film production to film makers. In other words, 15% of the film producer's cost of doing business in Oklahoma would be paid for by the taxpayers. The bill also established a number of criteria that the film maker must meet in order to claim the rebate.

You are perhaps wondering why someone in the film industry would have any more right to force the taxpayers to pay 15% of their business costs than those who work in any other industry. Most small business owners would attest that they would benefit if the state were pay 15% of their cost of doing business.

Despite the passage of the legislation a significant number of rebates were not claimed.

Instead of seeing the program as a failure the rebate supporters started lobbying the legislature to set aside a sizable block of funding for the rebate. In supporting this action the director of the Oklahoma Film and Music Commission stated that four or five films were ready come into Oklahoma, and a $5 million expenditure would more than cover the expenses of the rebate money for those films.

A group known as “The Oklahoma Film Project” held a press conference saying they would announce a comprehensive plan to bring domestic and international filmmakers to Oklahoma if the legislature voted to better fund the 15% film incentive rebates.

In 2005 the legislature set aside $5 million of our taxpayer funds for the rebate. The money was placed on a first-come, first-serve basis for the expected flood of film makers who would want to claim the funds.

So, how many film makers claimed the rebate?

None! The $5 million of tax rebates have yet to be used! Not one dollar has been paid out.

At least the taxpayers' costs appear to be limited to the bureaucracy involved in overseeing the failed program.

Once again, instead of acknowledging the program's failure, the legislature approved Senate Bill 623 which goes into effect in August making it easier for the film industry to take the money by significantly lowering the criteria that they must meet to claim the rebate. For example, in the original law film makers had to spend at least $1.25 million in Oklahoma. Now, they only need to spend $300,000. The criteria that the subsidized film be part of a recognizable distribution agreement will be lifted in some cases and requirements that the film production company hire Oklahomans are lessened.

In arguing for the lessening of these restrictions the director of the Oklahoma film commission stated that Oklahoma should no longer try to focus on recruiting big name productions but should instead focus on "small independents.”

So for a third time those wanting taxpayers subsidies for film producers have a new opportunity to take our money. Hopefully the program will once again be unsuccessful and the legislature will take the common sense step of closing the program down.

It is immoral for big government to use it's power to take from us through high taxes and fees so that it can give our money to other individuals and corporations.

Instead of picking and choosing who will succeed in the business world, Oklahoma's leaders should be lowering taxes and regulations. This would enable everyone to have a greater opportunity for success.

Moving Toward Universal Government Health Care

Moving Toward Universal Government Health Care

This year I enjoyed relating to House District 31 constituents some very good news regarding progress in reforming state government. Some of that progress included the following: accelerating the rate of income tax reduction, strengthening state immigration enforcement laws, cutting most taxpayer subsidies for abortion, passing education reform to encourage new charter schools, appropriating less in the state budget this year as opposed to last year, requiring that documentation of state spending be placed online, calling on state retirement systems to divest of investments with governments of terrorist-sponsoring nations and watching as the Oklahoma Department of Transportation developed a long term plan for paving roads that appears to be free of political influence.

Under the conservative leadership in the House of Representatives, progress continues to be made through a series of interim studies designed to consolidate government agencies and to develop a possible merit pay system for Oklahoma Teachers.

However, I have also reported negative news about passage of the pork-filled Department of Tourism budget which contains line items that appropriate money to non-governmental entities where expenditures are difficult to trace. Another unfortunate occurrence this year was the passage and Gubernatorial approval of Senate Bill 424. The bill, known as the "All Kids" program, greatly expands the size of government and increases Medicaid entitlement eligibility to cover dependants in families with up to $62,000 annual income for a family of four. As many as 42,000 additional people could be added to medicaid roles at a cost to taxpayers of approximately 38 million dollars in state and federal money.

This massive government spending is made possible by a federal program known as the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Created in 1997, the program has been used by several states to promote universal health coverage. Recently, the program has been debated at the federal level as the Bush administration opposes a large expenditure, preferring to limit SCHIP spending to only poor children. However, both Republican and Democrat Governors are pushing for a significant investment of SCHIP funds that could be spent on both children and adults.

Undoubtedly, this type of government expansion reflects a big step toward the goal of universal government health care. A study conducted by Jonathan Gruber of the MIT Economics Department, confirmed that six of every 10 people covered by SCHIP expansions, already have private coverage. In other words, big government spending is eliminating the insurance sector from being able to provide coverage in the free market.

Despite the opposition of House leadership, SB 424 passed the House of Representatives by a margin of 75-21. I believe this reflects a dangerous lack of understanding by legislators in both parties of the grave danger of government interfering with free market forces and of the continued move toward universal government health care.

During my term of office, I have worked to understand the efforts being made to expand the size of government. In the future I will continue to be vigilant in opposing massive government expansion. As always, I appreciate your feedback at 557-7350 or www.housedistrict31.com.

Consolidating State Government

Consolidating State Government

One of this summer's most exciting events in the House of Representatives will be a comprehensive interim study designed to discover areas in which government agencies can be consolidated. The study will explore the possibility of bringing certain state agencies and commissions under the wings of other state entities, with the goal of streamlining efforts and using taxpayer dollars more effectively.

Efforts to consolidate state government are being led by two of my colleagues who represent part of the Edmond area. Representative Ken Miller, who serves as Vice Chair of the House Appropriations and Budget Committee, will spearhead the study. House Speaker Lance Cargill has also committed his support to the effort.

Cargill states that over the decades, Oklahoma’s state government has simply grown too large. He believes there are a number of state departments and commissions which could easily be combined into other corresponding portions of government.

Miller claims that many state agencies are duplicating what other parts of state government are doing. He feels that by removing the duplication, we can make government more efficient and unified in its approach, and thus the people are better served.

I believe the study will produce a number of positive recommendations for agency consolidation and will prove useful in reducing unnecessary administrative overhead, which costs taxpayers millions of dollars.

This year I spent a considerable amount of time analyzing the state government appropriations process. In my analysis, I reached the conclusion that perhaps the easiest form of state government spending abuse to get a handle on is the inappropriate number of state agencies. It doesn't take much to discover that a number of them perform duties that could effectively be reorganized.

Hopefully, the study proposed by Speaker Cargill and Rep. Miller will lead not only to a number of agency consolidations, but to the outright elimination of those which are functioning in roles inappropriate for state government.

Once these recommendations are finalized, and if the political will to act is present, the taxpayers will realize savings as a result. However, the process to streamline government must be ongoing. It is important for the legislature to pass yet another of Cargill's initiatives.

Cargill wishes to establish an independent panel to review state agencies at least every eight years. Modeled after similar efforts at the federal level, the Commission on the Accountability and Review of State Agencies (CARSA) would examine opportunities for consolidating and streamlining duplicative state agencies. Hopefully, this would provide an on-going process that would result in a consistent push for smaller government.

Agency consolidation is just the first step toward true government spending reform. It will be much easier to focus attention on the important task of eliminating waste within individual agencies, once the number of agencies is reduced.

As always, I appreciate your feedback at 557-7350 or www.housedistrict31.com.

Pay Plan

If you were going to have your car worked on, would you prefer the mechanic earn a pay raise based on the quality of workmanship or be guaranteed a pay raise despite performance?

Would you be willing to take your child to a doctor who will receive a paycheck no matter how inadequately he does his job? Or would you prefer a physician who knows that a poorly conducted medical practice means he will lose his customer base?

Even the most simple observation of human behavior will reveal that people are motivated to work harder when their compensation is tied to performance level.

How would you feel if your employer refused to increase your pay on merit, but gave across the board pay raises to all employees, without taking into account which employees were the most deserving?

I believe it is unfair when a co-worker who fail to carry his or her weight receives the same raise as those who pride themselves on working hard. In fact, in such an environment, co-workers who do not carry their weight will tend to put pressure on the worker who does a good job. They do not want their own weak work ethic to be exposed by someone else's positive job performance. A socialistic work environment in which pay raises are guaranteed across the board inevitably induces poor job performance, while a competitive work environment with a merit based system entices competition. This leads to quality job performance.

I have worked to enhance my understanding of the challenges facing state government by speaking with current and former state employees. In the process, I made a number of observations based on the feedback I received. I was struck by how demoralizing the workplace is for many of these individuals. One former employee described the situation as being "trapped in a golden cage." Dependent on the benefits that come with the state retirement plan and across the board raises, these individuals are afraid to quit their job and go into the private sector. At the same time, they feel they have little opportunity to advance within the ranks of the huge state bureaucracy.

Last week I wrote about an important solution to this problem. It is privatizing the state retirement system and allowing employees to control their own retirement and thus their own career path.

Based on observations, I also support merit based pay for government employees.

In the next few weeks, the House of Representatives will hold an interim study to look at developing a new pay system for teachers which will be based on how well the teacher does his or her job. It is my hope that this study will produce legislation that can be acted on in the upcoming legislative session, where I believe it will receive strong support from members of the House.

As the Daily Oklahoman recently editorialized, it is wrong for talented teachers to be paid the same as teachers who aren't doing their jobs well but are allowed to remain in the classroom because of government bureaucracy.

A recent study by the University of Arkansas, released in January, demonstrated the success our neighboring state is having with a merit pay system. The study demonstrated that in one year, students under the system improved their math scores in rank by 3.6 to 4.6 Normal Curve Equivalency (NCE). NCE scores show how students rank compared to other students across the country. This figure represents a gain of nearly 7 percentile points for the average student.

If the capitalistic system of rewarding good performance works in the private sector, shouldn't it be good enough for those who teach our children?

Two weeks ago I wrote about upcoming transportation upgrades being made in this area. I appreciate the feedback I received from that update. There is an obvious air of excitement surrounding these improvements. The good news continued this week as it was learned Logan County Commissioner Mark Sharpton has secured another $150,000 from the state in order to pave Simmons road between Coltrane and Sooner. This funding should be available later this year.

As always, I appreciate your feedback at 557-7350 or www.housedistrict31.com.

Getting The Government Out Of The Retirement Business

Getting The Government Out Of The Retirement Business
24 June 2007

One of the biggest road blocks to government reform is the approximate 7 billion dollar liability that exists in the Teachers' Retirement System. The problem is, these are benefits that the state does not currently have to give. We have this problem because liberal big-spending politicians have irresponsibly increased benefits without paying for them.

Since 1991, the Legislature has increased the unfunded liability in the Teacher Retirement System fourteen times. The increase in the unfunded liability, due to legislation from 1991 to 2005, has been $1.3 billion. The result is that the Oklahoma Teachers' Retirement System is the third most poorly funded public pension system in the country.

This year liberal politicians sponsored at least ten bills to increase benefits without finding new ways to dedicate resources or reform the system.

In order to deal with attempts to raid the retirement system, the House has implemented the Oklahoma Pension Legislation Actuarial Analysis Act (OPLAAA). OPLAAA establishes three criteria that bills amending the retirement system must meet. First, benefits cannot be increased by the Legislature without paying for them. Second, actuarial investigation of the bill is required to provide the true cost of proposed legislation. And third, a one year delay mechanism is established that allows more time to assess the merits of retirement legislation. This forces fiscal impact legislation to lay over for a year before it can be considered. This way politicians and special interests should not be able to drum up sentiment in the heat of the moment to generate enough votes to raid the retirement system.

It appears there were no new successful raids on the Teachers' Retirement System this year and legislation was passed to increase funding in order to begin drawing down the amount of the liability.

However, I believe teachers' retirement will always be a problem as long as the government remains in the business of managing retirement funds.

For one thing, government pension fund managers, in their efforts to maximize investment, have made questionable investments in foreign companies which invest in terrorist sponsoring nations.

Also, the OPLAAA law can be changed at any time. Liberal politicians can amend OPLAAA in the same bill by which they are proposing to raid the retirement funds. Until OPLAAA is placed into the state's constitution (which can only be amended by a vote of the people) it will guard the retirement fund much like a bulldog without teeth.

It is my belief that state government should get out of the retirement business and allow new enrollees in the state retirement plans to have ownership of their own retirement accounts.

Known as a defined-contribution plan, these retirement accounts would be entirely controlled by their owners who could invest as they see fit, instead of the government having control of their money. This means that teachers who want a different job could take their retirement plan with them in the form of a 401k. No longer would they be trapped in a job they do not like just because they have state retirement. Also, since the state would be forced to make its contribution directly to that teacher's 401k, the politicians would be unable to raid the account because the teacher would own the money. And, with a 401k, there would arguably be greater inheritability and survivability benefits for the owner of the account.

Under this system, the government would gradually get out of the retirement business and save the cost of having to manage the billions of dollars it controls in retirement funds. And, people in the retirement system would be empowered with the ability to invest their own accounts.

I believe this plan would shrink the size of government while giving control to the people. I am strongly committed to this reform and as always, appreciate your feedback at 557-7350 or www.housedistrict31.com .