I hope Gov. Mary Fallin has a few surprises in store during her State of the State address tomorrow. Last time she outlined her agenda there wasn’t much unexpected except for a ban on smoking on state property. It included the conversion of the smoking room in the state Capitol basement into a fitness center, but even that plan had to be changed after it was decided the existing space was much too small.
The governor says she will present a tax cut plan that will be much more modest than a proposal last year that would have moved Oklahoma toward a personal income tax rate of zero. That effort failed to go anywhere. Sen. Sean Burrage (D-Claremore) told reporters he isn’t even reading tax cut bills because it was wasted time last session. The leader of the record minority in the Senate may be the most outspoken in the leadership, or at least the one who directly speaks his mind.
At a recent legislative panel discussion sponsored by the Oklahoma City Chamber, Burrage gave a clear, “No,” answer to a question about putting more guns in public schools. You can read an opinion piece on his response from my friend M. Scott Carter of The Journal Record newspaper:
Fourth Reading: The simple courage of saying ‘no’
KGOU and other public media throughout the state will be carrying Gov. Fallin’s State of the State speech. Most will air it live starting at 12:30 p.m. You can also stream it from KGOU’s website.
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