MIKE'S POSITIONS ON ....
TAX RELIEF: We must lower the income tax rate to encourage people to stay in Oklahoma and come to Oklahoma. I co-authored SB861 this session which accelerates our income tax rate reduction from 6.25% to 5.25%. It also provides for a back-to-school sales tax holiday and eliminates the business franchise tax for some small businesses.
JOB GROWTH: We must pursue real comprehensive lawsuit reform and worker’s compensation reform to provide a more dynamic entrepreneurial environment for greater job growth and higher incomes. We must also pursue policies that will help us directly stimulate high paying jobs which will increase income levels for Oklahoma, which ultimately lead to higher standards of living. I am the Senate Author of HB2085, an aerospace industry workforce bill, which will encourage our engineers to stay in Oklahoma and attract more engineers to come to our state.
EDUCATION: We must pay our teachers more to keep them from fleeing to other states. At the same time, we must also push for choice, high standards, and accountability to make sure all children have the opportunity for a first class education regardless of income or school location.
TEACHER RETIREMENT: By legislation I authored in 2006, we have successfully brought reform to the Oklahoma Teachers Retirement System to mandate comprehensive financial analysis and concurrent funding for all new benefit proposals. In 2007, we passed SB357 which I wrote to provide a long-term solution to reduce the massive unfunded liability of $7 billion by increasing employer contributions through education appropriations. This will lower the debt by $2.5 billion over 20 years and raise the funded level from 50% to 80%.
IMMIGRATION REFORM: I am very concerned that the Federal government has not addressed illegal immigration to secure our borders and enforce existing law. Republicans in the legislature worked many hours and quite diligently to fashion reasonable reform that would make a positive impact in Oklahoma. HB1804, which I voted for, seeks to eliminate Oklahoma taxpayer funded benefits for illegal immigrants. It also implements new procedures to make sure public and private employers verify that new hires are not illegal immigrants.
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