Oklahoma Senate Leaders Reveal GOP Agenda

Staff and Wire Reports

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Republicans will target the workers' compensation system during Oklahoma's 2010 Legislature in a pro-business legislative agenda that GOP leaders said Tuesday will promote job growth through lower taxes and less regulation.

The republicans have a laundry list of goals they want to accomplish in this legislative session. But getting the budget back on track was not one of them, nor is it a welcome topic of discussion.

"I don't know why you want to have a press conference if you don't want to talk about the most pressing issues," said NEWS 9 political analyst Scott Mitchell. "We've spent all our time on Your Vote Counts talking about the budget. The budget is what everybody cares about."

State Treasurer Scott Meacham said state revenue shortfalls hit the one-year mark and the cuts to state agencies will remain in effect. Political Analyst Scott Mitchell says the republican agenda is a good one, but the focus is misplaced.

"It's not what people want to hear about right now," said Mitchell. "People want to hear about right now, 'Who's going to be hurt?' and "What's going to happen to my schools?'"

"The private sector is the engine that's going to create jobs," said Senate President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, the state's first Republican Senate leader, who is serving his last year due to term limits. "That's how we're going to grow our way out of the recession."

Republican senators said they will support legislation to reduce the cost of worker's compensation claims, cut down on fraud, adopt term limits on workers' compensation judges and perhaps reduce the number of judges, GOP senators said.

"We have some judges who are ignoring the law," said Sen. Harry Coates, R-Seminole, chairman of the Senate Business and Labor Committee. Coates said fewer claims are being filed by workers injured on the job than before but that they are receiving higher awards.

Republican legislative leaders say high workers' compensation awards are a deterrent to attracting new employers to the state.

"It is about creating new jobs," Coates said.

The decision to tackle workers' compensation comes after Democratic Gov. Brad Henry signed Republican-backed legislation in May that made sweeping changes to Oklahoma's civil justice system to block frivolous lawsuits, and reduce medical malpractice and product liability insurance rates.

State finances have been hard hit by the sluggish economy and low oil and natural gas prices, so the lawmakers' priorities will be to fill a $729 million budget shortfall for the fiscal year ending June 30 and prepare a budget for the following year that is expected to be $1.3 billion less than the current one.

The Legislature is scheduled to convene its regular session on Feb. 1.

Coffee said he is opposed to tax increases to raise new revenue but is willing to consider revenue-raising measures that do not include new taxes, such as refinancing state bond issues at lower rates.

The Senate's Democratic leader, Sen. Charlie Laster of Shawnee, accused Senate Republicans of not doing enough to fill the state's budget hole.

"They spent their morning talking about all the proposals they will push that curry favor with Corporate America through giveaways to giant corporations and less regulation," he said in a statement.

For the third consecutive year, Coffee said he would pursue legislation to create an Office of Accountability and Innovation that would conduct independent performance audits of state agencies and programs. Coffee's proposal got bogged down in a House-Senate conference committee last year and Henry vetoed a similar bill in 2008.

Coffee said state Auditor and Inspector Steve Burrage, whose duties include auditing the operations of state and local governments and agencies, has expressed concern about the measure and suggested some changes.

"I think he's come up with some good ideas," Coffee said, adding that some of Burrage's suggestions would enhance the auditor's role in the accountability process.

Sen. Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, chairman of the Senate Energy and Environment Committee, said Senate Republicans would also promote the state's energy resources, including natural gas and renewable resources such as wind.

Bingman said Republicans support legislation filed by Sen. David Myers, R-Ponca City, that encourages electric utilities to use renewable energy. The bill sets a goal of the amount of energy generated from renewable resources of 15 percent of the provider's peak load capacity by 2015 and 20 percent by 2020.

Oklahoma has about $600 million in the state's rainy day fund that will likely be used to make up some of the budget shortfall.