Seminole Producer

the bill would allow UNRWA as having an internationally this bill to provide more D

Political Rhetoric Ratcheting In

Sep
09
Up in Okla. Governor’s Race
It didn’t take long after
Labor Day for the political
2018 rhetoric to ratchet up in
the Oklahoma Governor’s
Race.
Page Democrat Drew Edmond-
A003 son held a press conference
on Thursday where former
Clip
resized University of Oklahoma
45%
President David Boren
endorsed Edmondson.
Boren also called Repub-
lican candidate Kevin Stitt
“an amateur,” and Edmond-
son questioned Libertarian
candidate Chris Powell’s
stance to abolish the state
income tax.
The Edmondson press
conference evoked reac-
tions from Stitt and Powell.
In response to Edmond-
son’s attack on Stitt for
saying he would not have
signed House Bill 1010xx
if he were governor, the
Republican candidate
defended his stance and
questioned Edmondson’s
call for more tax increases.
HB 1010xx raised taxes
to fund teacher pay raises
and other state government
funding issues.
“Since day one, I have
called for teachers to be
paid competitive wages, a
key requirement for Okla-
homa to become Top Ten
in education. Over the past
year, our state revenue has
grown by more than $1 bil-
lion, and our economy is
making a comeback. In the
next few weeks, we will also
begin to see the impact from
tax increases passed earlier
this year. Yet, my opponent
is already calling for even
more taxes on hardwork-
ing Oklahomans. In a Stitt
administration, we will make
it a priority to invest more in
education, but it starts by
assessing new state rev-
enue at hand, diversifying
our economy, and delivering
accountability across our
state budget,” said Stitt in a
statement.
Powell contends Edmond-
son and Boren don’t under-
stand that the elimination of
the state income tax, would
first require the cleanup
of the mess left behind by
Democratic and Republican
Edmonson
leadership.
“Mr. Edmondson wants
you to believe that I would
abolish the income tax if I
were Governor. That has
never been my plan. We
have far too many problems
created by the Democrats
and Republicans that must
be fixed before we could
tackle such a reform, such
as the scandalous mis-
management at the Health
Department and the debili-
tating political control of
our schools that handicaps
our teachers in their efforts
to help students succeed.
Instead of fixing anything,
Mr. Edmondson just wants
more money to spend,” said
Powell in his statement after
the Edmondson press con-
ference.
“My plan is to eliminate the
standardized testing regimes
and the curriculum dictates
from the state, along with
other means of microman-
agement of the classroom by
politicians and bureaucrats,
so that decisions about the
education of any individual
child in our state will be made
by parents and teachers who
know that child, not officials
in offices at the state Capitol.
th
ti
g
A
We can better address ade-
quate funding by elimination
of corporate welfare, be it Tax
Increment Finance districts
that rob school districts of
local revenue or the nearly
half a billion dollars in incen-
tives that continues to be
appropriated when we can’t
properly support core ser-
vices. It’s also the case that
tax revenues are increasing,
as reported by State Trea-
surer Ken Miller, indicating
that it’s a foolish time to
increase taxation even more
after the biggest hike in state
history this past spring.
“I would also note that it
is laughable that Mr. Boren
would claim that Drew
Edmondson, a public official
for thirty of the past forty-
four years who first ran for
office when Richard Nixon
was president, represents
change. If Oklahoma voters
want real change they won’t
get it from the candidates of
those establishment parties,
they are the ones who put in
place what we have now,”
concluded the Libertarian
candidate.
The General Election is
on November 6.

Proprietàdi OPS News Tracker e membri di Oklahoma Press Association.