Quotes of the Day

“I do have a great concern about the fact that we’re losing some good members out of frustration. It’s just sheer frustration; this process is so caustic it’s difficult to want to come back.”

Rep. Weldon Watson (R-Tulsa) on the political fatigue at the Capitol and the higher than usual number of legislators opting not to seek re-election this year (Source)

“Oklahoma has the highest rate of diabetes among neighboring states except Arkansas. We must do all we can to educate the public and ensure they have access to proper training and education to control their diabetes. Everyone deserves to be healthy and have a good quality of life.”

– Rep. Pat Ownbey (R-Ardmore), thanking his colleagues and Gov. Fallin for their support of legislation to help diabetics get covered by Medicaid for life-saving training and education [Source].

“I wish we could pass a bill and inspire people to greatness and inspire people to be what they can be. But we can’t.”

– Sen. AJ Griffin (R-Guthrie), speaking against a bill recently passed in the Senate, House Bill 2932, which would mandate work requirements for SoonerCare patients [Source].

“The prison population in Oklahoma unfortunately will continue to grow. But I think these bills do represent progress, and these bills are a foundation that we can continue to build upon.”

– Kris Steele, chairman of Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform and former Speaker of the House, commenting on several justice reform bills that advanced on Tuesday. The bills were revised from their original forms as proposed by the Justice Reform Task Force last year (Source)

“We learned several important takeaways throughout this process: (a) we live in a great community that cares deeply for its school children, and we are so thankful for that; (b) our staff is amazing and holds deep convictions for making our kids’ lives better; (c) our state legislature still has much work ahead of them to address funding issues in education.”

– Miami Public Schools Superintendent Jeremy Hogan, in a letter announcing schools’ return to classes after the teacher walkout (Source)

“We know that when our state invests in education, they are investing in the economic development of our state. We must continue on. We will be doing other things to make sure that our teachers are staying engaged and involved. They’ll be walking. They’ll be knocking on doors, they’ll be doing postcards for education candidates. They’ll be doing whatever our education candidates need them to do so we can be successful, today tomorrow and well into the future.”

Alicia Priest, President of the Oklahoma Education Association, on OEA’s plans to elect pro-education candidates in November (Source)

“Some of us still feel like we are not done, but we know that we have started a movement that will continue past the end (of the walkout), whenever that is.”

-Greg Oppel, a social studies teacher at Edmond Memorial High School, reflecting on the teacher walkout and the movement it has spurred [NewsOK].

“I’ve always been politically involved, but I’m done with ideology over common sense. If I have a campaign slogan, it’s ‘I do math.'”

-Linda Wade of Midwest City, who was one of more than 450 Oklahomans filing to run for state and federal offices on the first day of candidate filing Wednesday (Source)

“My physical suffering is there. But three or four days from now, I’ll be fine. The wounds that have been caused by the state legislature’s neglect will take much longer to heal.”

– Craig Hoxie, a Tulsa high school science teacher, before completing the final leg of the 110-mile walk from Tulsa to the Capitol with a group of teachers (Source)

“Part of me that’s a rabble-rouser thinks if we are sitting here in a month, maybe the whole state will feel the intense economic impact of our state underfunding education for 10 years — it would be undeniable.”

– Sen. Allison Ikley-Freeman, on the possibility of an extended teacher walkout (Source)