"To represent and to lead our citizens, a senator must know them and understand their struggles. I have faced my challenges and succeeded. Now, it is my chance to give back."
Economic Growth
Oklahoma is a state of energy and vitality and, as such, is filled with potential for economic growth. I believe the time is now for us to take aggressive action toward making this potential a reality. In order for an entity to expand its financial power, it must increase its capacity to create conditions of satisfaction for everyone and not just a select few. To this end, we, as a state, must look toward economic solutions that meet the needs of a broad and diverse population.
I believe one way to ensure the continued growth and quality of our economy is for our city and state to embrace the cultural diversity of our citizens. By embracing our diversity, we will create a place that is inviting to businesses and their employees. This includes the medical research and healthcare markets as well as the high-tech markets, to name a few.
In addition, I will work towards raising the income level for our state residents across the broad range of our people. Oklahoma is ranked forty-fifth in the nation regarding the economic status of women, and as your Senator, I will make changing this fact a priority. According to the Institute for Women's Policy Research, one of the ways to improve our state for women is to raise the minimum wage and pass living-wage laws. This would not only help women, but also broaden our economic base for all Oklahoma citizens.
Protecting the workers and citizens of Oklahoma is of utmost importance to me. I know what it is like to go into work one day and discover that thirty-six of my colleagues have been laid off. Job security is important to everyone, and it not only affects the person with the job but also his or her family as well. I understand and will work to make the jobs of all Oklahomans more secure.
Not all is grim in Oklahoma City, and we have a lot to be proud of when it comes to economic growth. According to the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, Oklahoma has the lowest unemployment rate in a seven-state region and our unemployment rate has outperformed the national average by 22 percent since the year 2000.
Additionally, the Department of Commerce reports that Oklahoma's seasonally adjusted employment increased by 7,700 jobs between the fourth quarter of 2004 and the first quarter of 2005. Our state can be proud of this accomplishment.
As a State Senator, I will continue to work to make Oklahoma City a place that has an environment that is inviting to businesses and environmentally friendly to people in all of their diversities. A priority goal for me, as your Senator, will be to affect legislation that will give you job security and promote ever better economic conditions. I firmly and unequivocally know that without equality for all, there will be equality for none.
Education
Parents and grandparents know instinctively what billions of dollars of research over decades confirms:
- Learning begins at birth and needs a nurturing and stimulating environment to fully develop. It requires that parents, foster parents, grandparents and others closest to our children have the resources and support they need to incorporate this early learning into their daily lives;
- Our early educational system works best when our children enter their first school years ready to learn;
- Children learn best when all of their environments (home, educational, childcare, etc.) are linked together toward a goal of school readiness; and
- Parental involvement is the number one key to learning development and educational success.
Not only is parental involvement important in a child's success in school, but also the quality of the educational system in which the child is involved.
Education is a key to a child's future and success in life. As a state, it is our responsibility to make sure that all our children receive the highest quality education, no matter where they live or their economic background. Quality education helps bring about a better future for our children and for our state.
Our university system provides one of the best, if not the best, certification program for teachers in the country. Given that, our challenge is to keep those teachers in our state schools to serve our children. In order to do that, we must provide competitive salaries, quality facilities, and a supportive working environment to ensure that our quality teachers have an incentive to stay in this state. According to the National Education Association (NEA), Oklahoma ranks near the very bottom in the nation - forty-ninth out of fifty states - for having the lowest salaries for public school teachers. I find this unacceptable, and as your Senator, I will take aggressive action to facilitate change in this area. Our children and youth deserve the very best. We can ensure that they get the best by providing the best for our qualified teachers.
In addition, as your Senator, I will take action focused on improving the status of women and minorities. Through creative childcare and financial programs, I believe women and minorities would have access to a post-high school education. According to the Institute for Women's Policy Research, Oklahoma ranks forty-second on women with four or more years of college, forty-fifth on women in managerial and professional occupations, and thirty-eighth on women in the labor force. In order for Oklahoma to move forward, we must encourage our young women and minorities to take advantage of opportunities that abound within this state by providing avenues for them. As the state's status for women and minorities improves, so does the status of all people in our state.
When elected as your Senator, I will work with my Senate colleagues to develop an early education system that puts families at the forefront of school readiness. I will also work to ensure that we continue to have a system in place that encourages our teachers to want to remain in this wonderful state to continue educating our children.
Healthcare
Healthcare is a very expensive proposition!
As your State Senator, I will insist on accountability, affordability, and quality throughout the healthcare system. I believe that there is no other area of life that is so critical to every Oklahoma citizen. Without our health, everything - education, employment, housing - is difficult and sometimes impossible.
Families USA, a national nonprofit, non-partisan organization dedicated to the achievement of high-quality, affordable healthcare for all Americans, estimates that in 2005, 635,000 Oklahomans (18%) will be uninsured for the entire year. By 2010, 690,000 Oklahomans (18.7%) will be uninsured for the entire year.
The effects of this lack of coverage costs everyone.
I will make affordable, high quality healthcare a priority in my work when elected as your State Senator. I believe that the high cost of healthcare is the primary factor in not being able to access it.
We must increase the number of children who are covered for their healthcare needs to make sure they grow up to be healthy adults and we must be sure that seniors and people with disabilities stay in their homes, living independently, for as long as they are able.
Not only do we as a state need to do what we can to lower the cost of healthcare and make sure that everyone has access to quality healthcare, but we also have to begin addressing the issue of mental health. According to the Oklahoma Governor's and Attorney General's Blue Ribbon Task Force on Mental Health, the fiscal and economic impact and cost of untreated, under-treated and unserved mental illness, substance abuse and domestic violence is more than $8 billion annually. As your Senator, healthcare for children, seniors, and those with mental illness, will be a top priority that I will address.
