Readers share ideas for legislative session
We asked readers what legislators should be considering during the upcoming 59th Legislature.
Here are some of the responses:
Give state employees pay raises, stop building unneeded roads
(Give) state employees pay raise; let’s stop talking about it and actually do it.
Stop the turnpike and Tim Gatz and (Gov.) Kevin Stitt from building roads that are not needed, roads that are nothing more than cash cows for the turnpike authority, (or let’s make the turnpike a state-funded agency, like ODOT is, rather than an exempt agency — nonappropriated).
Actually hire qualified people to run our agencies.
And since Stitt signed his DEI executive order, does this mean state agencies no longer have to hire an ex-military who is not qualified for a job over a nonmilitary who is qualified for a posted job?
— Tracy Harris, Yukon
Scale up local successes
Compromise, collaboration and communication are critical to Oklahoma’s immediate and future long-term prosperity. No other state can lay claim to a dual economic environment as dynamic as ours. We’ve managed to turn what should be an economic advantage into a liability. We haven’t even scratched the surface of the full potential the combined assets the state and native tribes in Oklahoma are capable of.
There are occasional glimpses of that potential from time to time, usually due to compromises, collaboration and great communication at the local level. If Oklahoma is to meet its full potential, our legislators must develop mechanisms that will allow local successes to be scaled up to meet the needs, challenges and future aspirations of our state!
Happy New Year OKLAHOMA!!!
— Richard McPherson, Edmond
What I would tell my legislator
I would tell them to stop bowing down to big companies like oil and pharma and begin passing laws that actually helped all Americans instead of just those special interest groups. To get serious about climate change and begin working towards solar/wind or other renewable sources for all energy needs.
I’d also tell them to stop kowtowing to Trump and his followers and follow the Constitution! They swore an OATH to protect it and are failing to do so.
— Susan Hartline, Enid
From online comments
Grocery tax. So much of this tax burdens the less fortunate. So much of the tax receipts the state receives is not from an increase in the volumne of food bought, but simply from the increase in prices we are experiencing. If anything, lower it during high inflation times and then revist it when times are more stable. I don’t think we could survive without some tax.
— León_P.
Higher education needs for delayed maintenance needs and increased funding.
— sherman_l.
Oklahoma legislators are set to return to the state Capitol for the new session on Feb. 5. KYLE PHILLIPS/FOR