Quotes of the Day

We’ve been fighting an uphill battle, if you will, trying to make people aware that this offered some real opportunities for them.

– Judy Grant, deputy director of the Oklahoma Primary Care Association, on the push to enroll Oklahomans in health insurance offered under the Affordable Care Act prior to the March 31 deadline (Source: http://bit.ly/1ng1YdE).

I have repeated nightmares and I have not had a full night’s sleep (since the beating). Every time a door slams in the middle of the night I am paranoid that they will put another drunk, irate inmate into my cell. If I ever get out, I will seek professional help.

-Woodward County jail inmate Mark Jones, who said he had to fight off a drunken attacker who was shoved into 3-person cell that was already occupied by 6 other inmates (Source: http://bit.ly/1ekcSWk)

We have convenience store clerks that are making more than corrections officials.

– State Rep. Joe Dorman, D-Rush Springs, arguing against tax cuts passed by the House in HB 2508,which would reduce revenues by an estimated $200 million when fully implemented (source: http://bit.ly/1jXY9oO)

This mandate upsets our business philosophy and prevents our companies from reaching our full economic potential because it dissuades those employees from living and working in the jurisdictions where we do, or want to do, business.

-A friend-of-the-court brief filed by 46 companies and business groups, including Google, Facebook, Starbucks and Pfizer, weighing in against Oklahoma’s same-sex marriage ban (Source: http://bit.ly/1e5deA4)

Dysfunctional families are everywhere in America and this movie is one that can be related to by many. Heck, come to my farm on a Sunday afternoon and watch us shoot clay pigeons and make S’mores and see how dysfunctional we can be. We call that good times and having fun with your family in Oklahoma.

-Rep. Steve Vaughan, R-Ponca City, defending the film “August: Osage County,” which lawmakers criticized when debating whether to extend Oklahoma’s film industry tax rebate. After initially voting it down, the House approved extending the tax rebate for ten years.

Oklahomans cannot be expected to put their children in a box with only the hope that the walls were built right. The pupils’ safety is entrusted to the elected officials who are responsible for the public buildings built with taxpayer money. Where are they?

-The Journal Record, writing about an apparent lack of concern from legislators after it was revealed that a contractor used faulty construction methods in the two Moore schools that collapsed in a tornado (Source: http://bit.ly/1mSjIeS)

Parents send us the best they have. They want us to educate their children, but it’s very hard for our students to be at their best when they have no food consistently at home or the proper clothing to come to school. They’re like little adults with adult worries, and they don’t know how to be the child they are.

-Principal Estella Bitson of Hawthorne Elementary, a high-poverty school in north Tulsa (Source: http://bit.ly/1dTbVUG)

Oklahoma’s gross revenue collections are at an all-time high, but funds for the state’s discretionary budget have a $188 million shortfall. The lost revenue is going mostly to transportation spending and oil and gas industry tax breaks. To a lesser extent, it’s going to individual and corporate tax refunds and business subsidies.

– OK Policy Director Gene Perry, discussing Oklahoma’s simultaneous high general revenue collections and budget shortfall (source: http://bit.ly/1eFvhMG)

Years ago, I often heard companies say the cost of doing business was their No. 1 concern. During my time in the Tulsa Regional Chamber and now as secretary of state, I am increasingly hearing from employers who say that an educated workforce, supported by strong public education, is the most important factor in deciding where to locate or expand.

-Secretary of State Chris Benge (Source: http://bit.ly/1mIIqhR)

Studies in 13 states that have considered a switch to defined contribution plans have reached an actuarial consensus that closing a defined benefit plan lowers investment returns and thus increases unfunded liabilities.

-Researchers Ross Eisenbrey and Steve Herzenberg, in a report finding that lawmakers’ plan to move state pensions to a 401(k) style system could create  billions of dollars of additional costs for taxpayers (Source: http://bit.ly/1dyYGsg)