Horn, Bice face off in Edmond forum
EDMOND — After fielding questions on health care, taxes and other topics, Rep. Kendra Horn and state Sen. Stephanie Bice entered the “lightning round” on Wednesday at a 5th District Congressional forum hosted by the Edmond Chamber of Commerce
“Who are you voting for for president?”
“Donald J. Trump,” Bice, R-Oklahoma City, said.
“Joe Biden,” Horn, D-Oklahoma City, said.
“If you could change one thing in Edmond, what would that be?”
“The traffic,” Bice said. “I'd have to agree … ” Horn said.
“What is your highest priority to accomplish in the next two years?” “Health care,” Horn said. “Getting elected?” Bice said.
“What was the last book you read?”
“The last book I read was ` Boomtown,'” Horn said. “I've made it halfway through several others.”
“I'm blanking on the title, but it's Sarah Huckabee Sanders' new book,” Bice said.
“If you could only bingewatch one TV show, what would that be?” “`Parks and Recreation,'”
Horn said.
“`Gilmore Girls,' with my girls,” Bice said.
For Horn and Bice, who are battling it out for the congressional seat Horn has held for nearly two years, the forum offered a respite from the relentless attack ads and tense debates that have marked the last few weeks of the race.
Questions about business concerns were paramount, befitting a chamber event, and Horn and Bice were admonished not to interrupt each other or even address each other's positions. The name of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a mainstay of the race, was uttered only in the context of whether the candidates preferred her dancing over Trump's; the candidates artfully dodged that one.
Responding to a question about corporate taxes, Bice rejected the idea of raising the federal corporate income tax rate, which was reduced in the 2017 tax bill from 35% to 21% as some write-offs were eliminated.
“The lowering of the tax rate allows for businesses and companies to reinvest those dollars,” Bice said. “And it's reinvesting in their employees, it's reinvesting in technology of their businesses to grow their businesses. That's what drives this economy. If you go back to pre- COVID, we had the lowest unemployment in history, we had month-over-month wage growth. In Oklahoma, we were seeing record gains. And it was an incredible opportunity for us to really benefit from the tax and jobs act that the administration put forward.”
Horn, who has called the 2017 tax bill a disaster and has proposed raising the personal income tax rate for those making over $400,000, said, “I think that, the bottom line is, our tax system has to work for all of us. And we need the right balance. And we should make sure that each of us does our part, that we're not putting everything on the backs of working families, giving all the benefit to a few.
“Having said that, we do need to ensure that we can continue to incentivize growth and investment in our community.”
Both candidates said the Five Tribes and the state of Oklahoma should reach agreements on jurisdiction before federal legislation is crafted in the wake of the momentous U.S. Supreme Court decision in July regarding Indian land.
“We absolutely need to make sure that the tribes and the state have the opportunity to negotiate as sovereigns to come to an agreement,” Horn said.
Bice said, “I think that we are a long way from actually having to have intervention by Congress. There's a lot that needs to happen before that. I know the attorney general has been working with the tribes to try to figure out some solutions to the complexities of this very difficult situation.”
Attorney General Mike Hunter on Wednesday asked the state's congressional delegation to seek quick approval of legislation that would authorize the state and the Five Tribes to forge agreements giving state and federal prosecutors concurrent jurisdiction in major crimes in Indian Country.
The 5th Congressional District includes most of Oklahoma County and Pottawatomie and Seminole counties. Election Day is Nov. 3.