Quotes of the Day

“It’s troubling that we are cutting most state agencies at a time when the economy is growing and most other states are talking about what to do with surpluses. We can’t expect good economic times to restore public services, because that’s happening now and the money isn’t there.”

– Gene Perry, Policy Director of OK Policy (source: http://bit.ly/1nN109e).

“We are very troubled by the state’s lack of progress on these important issues. The state needs to be aware that the Pinnacle Plan and the agreements reached in the settlement of the lawsuit can’t be treated as empty promises. They are, in fact, enforceable by the court.”

– Marcia Robinson Lowry, executive director of Children’s Rights, a nonprofit whose lawsuit against Oklahoma DHS in 2008 led to the creation of the Pinnacle Plan. (source: http://bit.ly/1ubZXiH).

“I don’t think politicians should try to become educators. We have people who are trained in education who far better understand how a student learns. We’re getting into something most politicians don’t understand.”

-Rep. Ann Coody, R-Lawton, on a Common Core repeal bill that would require any new state standards to be approved by the Legislature (Source: http://bit.ly/1rCeczo)

“There hasn’t been as much focus on when they get out.”

– Danny Williams Sr., U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma, on Fresh Start, a new program designed to reduce recidivism among recently released felons. He said about two-thirds of those released from state and federal prison are reincarcerated within three years (source: http://bit.ly/1rmPW4e).

“I feel like we’re going back in time … The safety net is retracting at the same time we’ve turned down federal funding which could allow us to expand the safety net.”

– John Silva, CEO of Morton Comprehensive Health Services, an Oklahoma-based community health center, speaking about Oklahoma’s planned Medicaid cuts (source: bit.ly/1k5xRT8).

“When we talk about societal ills, when we talk about gangs, violence and homicide, when are we really going to look at the problem? Much of that starts in elementary and middle schools with lack of achievement, lack of really good schools and resources. …Society has just gotten used to, ‘Oh, that’s just how black males are,’ or, ‘They’re dying at an alarming rate, but that’s just how it is’ — instead of saying, ‘Let’s fix the school systems, let’s fix the neighborhoods.'”

– Sharri Coleman, adjunct professor of African-American Studies at OU, speaking about Oklahoma’s disproportionately high rates of gun violence against African-American men (source: bit.ly/1os2FR0).

“Oklahoma doesn’t have a revenue problem. It has a tax-credit problem.”

-House Speaker Jeff Hickman, R-Fairview, speaking about why lawmakers cut funding for services by more than $100 million this year even though the economy is growing (Source: http://bit.ly/1tHCAxa)

“Some lawmakers want to run for other offices outside the Legislature after they leave, and they will do anything to appear tough on crime at the expense of the state. We need legislators who are interested in changing the game, being smart on crime and unafraid of the outdated politician labeling them soft on crime.”

-Rep. Bobby Cleveland, R-Slaughterville, who is forming an interim study to develop “smart on crime” reforms to Oklahoma’s criminal justice system (Source: http://bit.ly/1r0GN18)

“I think with this particular bill, people just stuck with it because of the parents and their local educators.”

-State Rep. Katie Henke, author of HB 2625, which gives the decision of whether to retain or promote a third grader who failed the third-grade reading test back to parents and educators. The legislature overrode Gov. Fallin’s veto of the bill on Wednesday afternoon (source: bit.ly/1k77igx).

“I have overseen the budgeting process of drilling thousands of wells at two different companies in Oklahoma. In the process of drilling a well, there were many factors that are considered. However, the implication of a state’s gross production tax has never had a material impact on whether to drill or not drill. … The intent of the Oklahoma gross production tax holiday has outlived its purpose of subsidizing the experiment of horizontal drilling … The tax holiday had an expiration for good reason and was never intended to create a long-term entitlement for the industry.”

– Tom Ward, former CEO of SandRidge Energy Inc. and current CEO of Tapstone Energy LLC (source: http://bit.ly/1vDmvuh).