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Quotes of the Day
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Oklahoma has the highest female incarceration rate in the country for several years now. Oklahoma’s history of imprisoning nonviolent women, rather than treating them, is expensive, ineffective and damaging to families.
-Sen. Kim David, R-Porter, who has authored a bill allowing Oklahoma to make “social impact contracts” that pay nonprofits for successfully reducing incarceration (Source:http://bit.ly/1dty4c1)
There seems to be no long-range strategic plan considering overall impacts of cuts on services and magically, if we reduce taxes an increase in business and sales will make up the difference. It sounds like trickle-down economics, but there are too many variables. You could not run a business this way.
-Phil Busey, CEO of the Busey Group of Companies in Oklahoma City, who writing in The Edmond Sun about why further tax cuts make no sense right now (Source: http://bit.ly/1doza91)
Nearly All Oklahoma Quakes Are Near Injection Wells, But So Is Most of the State
-Headline of a State Impact Oklahoma article by Logan Layden discussing the ties between oil and gas drilling and earthquakes in Oklahoma (source: http://n.pr/1dV6TuE)
We have too much money going out the back door in this state.
-Rep. David Dank, R-Oklahoma City, who said the huge amount of money the state has been giving back to corporations through tax credits may be a factor in Oklahoma’s budget shortfall this year (Source: http://bit.ly/1cZ8qeT)
We’re inspired by what’s happened in Tulsa and Oklahoma more broadly. The idea of significantly ramping up universal pre-K is a way to give all our kids a chance and level the playing field.
-Brad Lander, a member of the New York City Council. New York is looking to Oklahoma as a model while the city considers implementing its own universal pre-K program (Source: http://bit.ly/1msTT50).
Morale among K-12 educators is at an all-time low. If your boss suddenly required a 25 percent increase in your workload, added performance assessments you have only some control over (a.k.a. TLE) that could result in your termination, and hadn’t given you a raise in seven years, would you start looking for another job or retire early? Large numbers of my colleagues, as many as 70 percent at one school site, have done so in the past couple of years.
-Ponca City teacher Marisa Dye (Source: http://bit.ly/1mqPAaf)
One of the questions we need to ask ourselves is: Can we afford another tax cut when we can’t give another tax cut without cutting vital services? It is not only schools and colleges that are damaged. What about bridges like the one being closed between Lexington and Purcell? What about overcrowded prisons that are ticking time bombs? Who will get this proposed tax cut? Is it worth hurting education more? Sixty percent of Oklahomans will get $2.50 per month or less. Those who earn over $1.2 million per year will get a little over $2,000 per year. This proposed tax cut is certainly not based on the principle that those who can reasonably contribute more should do so.
-University of Oklahoma President David Boren, on Governor Fallin’s proposed budget that cuts the top income tax rate while slashing higher education and most other services (Source: http://bit.ly/1cQbZUF)
The tax break was given over a period of time so they could experiment with horizontal drilling, and it worked. It has done a great job, but the period of experimentation is over. … The companies are coming to Oklahoma because the oil is in the ground.
-Rep. Pat Ownbey, R-Ardmore, who is co-authoring a bill to raise Oklahoma’s minimum teacher salaries and pay for it by reducing a tax break for horizontal drilling (Source: http://bit.ly/1mg9zZp)
At some point you have to realize that you have to have revenue; you have to pay for core services that our citizens depend on. You can’t continue to erode the revenue stream.
-State Treasurer Ken Miller (Source: http://bit.ly/1cwy5vc)
March 31st is about kids needing additional funding, less high-stakes testing, and more local control. Being funded at 2008 levels with more kids and higher fixed costs like fuel, electricity and water is simple math.
-Sand Springs Superintendent Lloyd Snow, on why Oklahoma school districts are cancelling class for students and teachers to attend an education rally at the state Capitol (Source: http://bit.ly/1m7gFiy)
