On Thursday, Gov. Fallin ordered a special election to replace Kirby in Oklahoma House District 75, in East Tulsa & Broken Arrow.Kirby’s resignation will become effective March 1, 2017.The filing period for the special election is Feb. 27 and 28, and March 1. The special primary election is set for May 9 and the special general election is scheduled for July 11.In the event a special primary election is not necessary, th […]
There’s been a whole lot of talk about our $868 million budget hole this year and ways the lawmakers could fill the gap.
One idea driving a lot of the conversation: raising taxes.
Now I might be old fashioned, but I believe it’s my job as a lawmaker to cut government, not to hike taxes. So when people float proposals to increase the motor fuel tax or expand taxes to include services like child care, legal fees and utility services, my antenna goes up. There’s got to be a better way.
Fortunately, I’m not the only one who believes this. Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb has stepped out in opposition to the new tax proposal, and I stand with him 110 percent.
Before we consider taxing our taxidermy or lawn services, shouldn’t we look at our own spending? Shouldn’t we do everything we can to avoid allowing the government to take even more of our hard-earned money out of our pockets? If the answer to that question isn’t “yes,” then I don’t know what I’m doing up here at the Capitol.
Look at agencies like the Department of Public Safety, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. These agencies could easily be consolidated into a single department, and it would result in a more efficient system, ease the flow of information between departments and ultimately save the taxpayers money.
OKLAHOMA CITY – Governor Mary Fallin today issued the following statement after Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb announced his resignation from her Cabinet, where he served as small business advocate:
“I was disappointed and surprised to learn from a press release that Lt. Gov. Lamb had decided to quit serving as a member of my Cabinet.
“I have always valued Todd’s independent voice. I valued it when we first came into office when we dealt with a similar financial crisis and I value his independent voice today. I’ve never been afraid to have dissenting voices at the table. I think the people of Oklahoma benefit from that. There will always be a seat at the table for his independent voice.
“Leading a state is never easy, especially when there are so many challenges and we are faced with a prolonged economic downturn. But through ideas, hard work, long hours and making tough decisions, we can find solutions to those challenges our state faces. We have to.
“As governor, I have provided a reality check of doing the same thing over and over with the structural deficits of our budget and expecting a different outcome. If we want to educate our children, a teacher pay raise and ensure the health and public safety of our citizens as well as improve our roads and bridges, we must fix the structure of our budget so we don’t keep having budget shortfalls and uncertainty.”
Fallin says she heard about Lamb’s resignation from reading his press release. That’s interesting. Lamb told KFAQ radio host Pat Campbell, and the Tulsa World reported as well, that Lamb’s chief of staff Keith Beall met with the Governor’s chief of staff Chris Benge Thursday morning before his announcement went out… so it sounds like either Governor Fallin is being dishonest, or her staff hid it from her. Campbell said on air that it reminded him of Barack Obama’s “I learned about it like you did, on the TV news.“
The last 24 hours have been a flurry of spontainious and unscripted moves from several political dialogues. It appears to have been started with a social media video from Tulsa’s former federal prosecutor, Gary Richardson. Gary is widely assumed to be running for governor. And so is Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb…. So Todd Lamb decided the time is right for his own act of defiance. He resigned his auxiliary role in the Mary Fallin cabinet. He stays in his independent office a […]
Last year, Governor Mary Fallin disgraced herself by walking through the House chamber, groveling for votes among the Democrats, to get massive new sales taxes on tobacco products. The massive tax campaign that Fallin and Speaker Hickman’s leadership team pushed on the house had conservatives stunned and disoriented. There was no organized voice to rally around for the 25 or so fiscal conservatives. Had the Democrats not ‘doubled down’ and opposed all budget-ba […]
For the first time in many years, Lieutenant Governor Todd Lamb took an objecting position on a contentious political issue in state government. The man who’s known more for posing for pictures at the capitol, has begun to expess his campaign platform on current issues. Lamb is a former state senator from the Edmond area. But little substantive press accompanied his 2 elections to statewide office. So folks outside his Edmond home t […]
Oklahoma City – A group of conservative Oklahoma legislators today expressed support for Lieutenant Governor Todd Lamb’s decision to resign from Governor Fallin’s cabinet over her plan to dramatically increase Oklahomans’ sales tax burden.
Lamb stepped down from his cabinet position as Small Business Advocate, saying, “While I respect the determination with which Governor Fallin met her obligation to present a balanced budget to the legislature, I cannot support her proposed tax increases. This proposal will adversely harm Oklahoma’s small businesses and families, especially those in our service industry.”
In her State of the State address, Governor Fallin presented a plan that would tax 164 different categories of services provided by Oklahoma small businesses and entrepreneurs. By the governor’s own estimate, this would result in a tax hike of over $1,700,000,000.00.
