Gov. Mary Fallin
gave the State of the State address to kick off the 2014 legislative session on
Monday. I was pleased to hear the governor emphasize the important of CareerTech
to our state, but not pleased to hear her call for the further implementation of
Common Core standards. In my view, local control is always best and the price
tag that will come with the standards will bankrupt our
state.
On the other
hand, I was pleased that she has a plan to help school districts provide local
funding for storm shelters without committing the state to further expenses. I
am against issuing bonds, which is what we would have needed to do to fund
school shelters through the state. Once again, the priorities of a school should
be decided on a local level.
Despite the
naysayers out there, our economy is growing and our conservative policies are
working. As the governor noted, unemployment numbers are down and incomes have
risen. We still must continue along the path to create greater economic
prosperity. Our goal should always be for greater freedom, not more government
dependency.
The governor
also presented her executive budget. I was pleased that it provided for an
increase in funding to schools and to corrections while making targeted cuts to
other agencies. I think if we went further in our cuts in unnecessary spending,
we could do even more to improve our schools and provide pay raises to our
teachers and other state workers.
I agree with the
governor that a tax cut is the right thing. Tax reduction works. However, we
must do it responsibly without pulling the rug out from under our schools and
local communities. I also support her thrust to continue to reject any expansion
to Medicaid and other elements of the implementation of
ObamaCare.
It is an honor
to serve you. It matters not if you are Republican, Democrat, or Independent; I
am here to serve you. Please visit my website to see where I stand on any range
of topics at www.FriendsofJoshCockroft.com and my policy
blog at www.RepJoshCockroft.blogspot.com. Communication
is important to me. I want to know how to I can better serve and lead for our
district and our state. I am always a phone call away at:
405-557-7349.
Please elaborate and support the statement concerning "...a tax cut is the right thing. Tax reduction works." Mr. Cockroft, a simple review of the various tax scenarios in which many low to middle class Oklahomans fall will see little to no "tax relief". In many cases, the cut will result in essentially less than $10 per month going back into the pockets of your typical Oklahoman....including the constituents in Pott. County. This is a fact, and is not swayed by political ideology. Please let the people of Pott. County know how much they PERSONALLY will benefit from such tax cut, in relation to the reduced revenue for state core services. I am certain that adequate funding for schools, roads, corrections, and other core services is far more important than what equates to a "Big Mac" in their pocket each month. Also, the people of Pott. County deserve to know how much of this type of legislation comes from model bills formulated by political/corporate interests such as ALEC, rather than decisions made by Oklahomans for Oklahomans.
ReplyDeleteOur political leaders are all for "transparency", yet, fail to address or disclose how much of their draft bills are simply regurgitation of "model bills" created by outside interests.
Thank you.