Rep Eric Proctor is a 6-term Democrat from Tulsa. His Conservative Index Score is higher than most of the Republican Caucus. Late Tuesday night he posted a principled message to his colleagues about making empty promises with empty bank accounts. He called the Republican plan an insult to the state's school teachers. Here is his social media post... Eric Proctor Friends, I love Oklahoma and I know most of you do as well. It is my firm belief that there is a bipartisan solution that can be reached. A solution that doesn't require the burden to be solely placed on the backs of working men and women. Sadly, special interest groups have a stranglehold hold on many elected officials. Tomorrow we will see a plan presented by the majority that they know will fail. They know 15-20 members of their party won't support tax increases and that democrats won't support a plan that shifts the tax burden while not requiring one dime in additional taxes from the wealthiest industry in the world. As a former teacher I can tell you that promising teachers a raise funded by a plan that you know will fail is cruel and insulting. Contact your legislators and tell them to stop the gimmicks and to support a bipartisan solution. |
What started as a $20 million repair to the capitol building, is becoming the cinder block that could drown the state and threaten public safety for all of us. The legislature has an insatiable appetite for luxury and self-indulgence. This is obvious when you look at a capitol build which once housed the entire state govt. under Democrat dominance. Now the building doesn't house the high courts, Attorney General, Labor, education, Insurance, or the records of those agencies. Yet the legislature voted to give themselves a health spa and fitness center in the basement. Never mind that the constitution specifies that the core state offices and functions (including all records) must remain operational in the seat of govt. (the building). When Gov. Keating promised a dome over the rotunda, he said it would be paid by private donors. The building was solid without a dome for 80 years, but not only did the dome require our tax dollars to get completed; it led to a massive foundational failure which now requires a major structural rebuild. The project didn't end there. The legislature expanded the project by several hundred million, several years, and led to a constitutional crisis when unelected officials tried to evict the State Auditor, last summer. Now the project just kicked out the legislature during a crisis special session. The Dept. of Mental health will shut down next month if they don't get emergency funding. Hundreds of mentally ill will be released to the streets to fend for themselves if a budget fix is not applied quickly. But the legislature decided that electrical repairs are more pressing and decided to adjourn for 10 days, before resuming their special session. God help us, because we sure aren't helping ourselves. Read more on the shutdown details at Muskogee Politico.
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Sooner Politics
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