Quotes of the Day

“This lady … said he fell multiple time and passed out, and they told him to quit faking it. And he begged for dialysis the entire time he was in there, and he told them they were going to kill him if he didn’t go. They just told him to quit faking it, and they eventually sent him to a cell.”

– Rosa Bermea, whose son, Bruno Elias Bermea, died in the Oklahoma City jail three days after his arrest. Bermea, who typically got dialysis three or four times per week, did not receive treatment while in jail (Source). 

“The state paid more to wind companies in May than the general fund netted from all other corporate income taxpayers combined. How messed up is that?”

-Oklahoma Finance Secretary Preston Doerflinger (Source)

“When payday loans and high-cost installment loans don’t exist in a state anymore, people turn to other resources such as family members and churches and credit unions, or they learn to budget differently. It’s not this false dichotomy that the industry and their lobbyists have created, that without payday loans they’ll go to loan sharks and die. That hyperbolic rhetoric is just not true.”

– DeVon Douglass, Policy Analyst at Oklahoma Policy Institute, on new rules proposed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that are intended to stop debt traps created by payday loans (Source)

“In the 21st century, the United States has reinstated a broad system of debtors’ prisons, in effect making it a crime to be poor. If you don’t believe me, come with me to the county jail in Tulsa. On the day I visited, 23 people were incarcerated for failure to pay government fines and fees, including one woman imprisoned because she couldn’t pay a fine for lacking a license plate.”

-New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof (Source)

“We have to get rid of that trigger. We will be anemic when we come out of this terrible economic situation. We can’t allow it to kick in. It would be a disaster.”

–  State Sen. Ron Sharp (R-Shawnee), on an income tax cut that, if triggered, could come into effect as soon as January 1, 2018. Legislation to alter the trigger was introduced in the last two weeks of the legislative session, but contained a drafting error that could not be fixed before session adjourned (Source)

“The lack of appropriated dollars for textbooks is posing serious challenges for districts across Oklahoma. At a time when educators are implementing new, stronger standards for English language arts and mathematics, districts will be scrambling to raise funds to replace workbooks and other consumable materials for early reading students. In the meantime, children will continue to be saddled with outdated and tattered school books held together by duct tape.”

– State Superintendent of Schools Joy Hofmeister, explaining that the legislature’s decision not to appropriation any funds for textbooks this year means the state Department of Education is recommending school districts not purchase textbooks this year (Source)

“I think this is likely to expand pretty radically the scope of civil asset forfeiture procedures. This is a capability that law enforcement has never had before and one that is very likely to land DPS in litigation.”

-Brady Henderson, legal director of ACLU Oklahoma, on new devices acquired by the Department of Public Safety that will allow law enforcement to seize funds loaded on prepaid debit cards (Source)

“Oklahoma cannot adequately fund education, the largest consumer of our state budget, or any other core services, without additional revenues. We have demonstrated that we cannot cut our way to prosperity, or even livability. When people say they want schools and teachers to be funded, they need to realize that a revenue increase is needed to do that, and that means an increase in taxes.”

-Tulsa attorney Teresa Meinders Burkett on the need to repeal the constitutional requirement that new state revenue be approved by 75 percent of both legislative chambers and the governor or by a vote of the people (Source)

“Right now, I don’t know if there is anything I would do differently. I’m all about transparency, and I’m all about getting input, so even though nothing comes to mind now, I’m open to suggestions.”

-House Appropriations and Budget Chairman Earl Sears, R-Bartlesville, speaking about state budget negotiations that were closed to the public, the news media, and Democratic lawmakers until the final week of session (Source).

“When you’re talking about attracting employers and skilled talent, these things matter.”

– Brian Paschal, senior vice president for education and workforce at the Tulsa Regional Chamber, on findings that the last two weeks of the state legislative session earned the state $50.9 million in negative publicity (Source)