By Senator Jay Paul Gumm, D-Durant

Hello again, everybody! Even though the Legislature is adjourned for the year, events happen that will have an affect on issues important to the people I represent.

On education, there is a “good news-bad news” story for the people of rural Oklahoma and the children who attend rural public schools. The good news comes from the Oklahoma Supreme Court, which struck down an initiative petition that had the potential to devastate many small school districts.

The proposal, led by a failed candidate for governor, is called the “65 percent solution.” It would require 65 percent of school operational funding be spent in the classroom.

On the surface that sounds like a good idea. Read more…

By Rep. Jason Murphey

One of the biggest road blocks to government reform is the approximate 7 billion dollar liability that exists in the Teachers’ Retirement System. The problem is, these are benefits that the state does not currently have to give. We have this problem because liberal big-spending politicians have irresponsibly increased benefits without paying for them.

Since 1991, the Legislature has increased the unfunded liability in the Teacher Retirement System fourteen times. The increase in the unfunded liability, due to legislation from 1991 to 2005, has been $1.3 billion. The result is that the Oklahoma Teachers’ Retirement System is the third most poorly funded public pension system in the country.

This year liberal politicians sponsored at least ten bills to increase benefits without finding new ways to dedicate resources or reform the system. Read more…