Oklahoma has made some strides in recent years towards improving outcomes in the classroom. But in order to compete, Oklahoma has to stop comparing itself to Texas and surrounding states and should start looking at how our students are achieving compared to those in the global marketplace. We need to do a better job in standard setting and in attainment.

Transportation

Roads and bridges have gotten a boost in the past few sessions under the plan to start funding road improvements which had been ignored for decades by prior legislatures. But state highways and interstates aren't the only roads which need to be worked on for improving our transportation plan. We've got to do a better job in assisting cities and counties in building roads to accommodate growth and development.

Streamlining Government

Oklahoma's government is constrained only by the will of the legislature and governor. Inefficiencies and duplications of government exist at all levels. The sheer number of Agencies, Boards and Commissions in existence is surpassed only by the number of school districts in the state (515 agencies/boards/commissions to 540 school districts). We need to look at streamlining lower performing entities into those which perform at a higher and more efficient level.

Tax Reform

Oklahoma is overall a low tax state. It is simply the manner in which we tax that discourages growth and investment in Oklahoma as a place to grow and build business and bring higher paying jobs to our state. We must review our existing policies, including exemptions and tax credits, to make sure all Oklahomans are benefiting from the tax structure so we can have a more competitive tax package for job growth.

Health Care

Access to affordable health care must be done without resorting to any form of universal healthcare or socialized medicine. Oklahoma should do more to promote insurance coverage by employers and healthy lifestyles in our citizenry. With the federal government's continued reduction in allocations to the various states in Medicaid funding, we must look at making Medicaid work through common sense reforms that provide greater choice in providers and better access to health care information.