OK Public Employees Association endorses Stitt for reelection

OKLAHOMA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION ENDORSES GOVERNOR KEVIN STITT

October 5, 2022 (Oklahoma City, Okla.) – The Stitt for Governor 2022 campaign announced today that the Oklahoma Public Employees Association (OPEA) endorsed Governor Kevin Stitt for re-election in 2022. During his first term, Governor Stitt has been recognized for his work on civil service modernization and agency accountability reform to improve efficiency for state employees and Oklahomans. 

State House passes unfunded COLA for state retirees

Rep. Avery Frix (R-Muskogee) with members of the House Republican and Democratic caucuses

Unfunded retirement bill wins House approval

by Ray Carter, Director, Center for Independent Journalism

(March 10, 2020) Legislation that increases state payments to retired government workers, but does not include a direct funding source, has passed the Oklahoma House of Representatives without opposition on a 99-0 vote. The measure is expected to boost the state’s unfunded liability by $800 million to $900 million.

The legislation was passed amidst a background of stock market volatility that has reduced state pension earnings and falling oil prices that could significantly hamper lawmakers’ ability to cover associated pension costs.

House Bill 3350, by Rep. Avery Frix, would provide a “cost of living adjustment” (COLA) of up to 4 percent for some state government retirees.

The bill applies to retirees currently receiving payments from the Teachers’ Retirement System of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System, Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System, Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement System, Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System, and Uniform Retirement System for Justices and Judges.

Under the bill, individuals who have been retired for less than two years would receive no increase in benefit payments. Those retired for two to five years would see a two percent increase, and those retired for five years or more would get a four percent increase.

Frix, R-Muskogee, said 85 percent of state government retirees will receive the four percent increase.

He also said the legislation’s cost will extend the current time frame required for state pension systems to achieve fully funded status by another two years. If HB 3350 becomes law, the cumulative funded ratio of Oklahoma state pension systems would decline by two percent with one system’s funded status declining by 2.9 percent.

Republicans and Democrats held a joint press conference to hail the bill’s passage and insisted the state could handle the associated costs.

“We want to do the best that we can for our state retirees, and we don’t want to see our pensions be eroded, go in a negative trajectory based on upon all the hard work and money that’s been put into them over the years to bring them up to a solvent position,” said House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka.

Around $300 million is already diverted from other uses each year to shore up Oklahoma government pension systems due in part to unfunded COLAs enacted in decades past. From 1975 to 2019, there were 19 COLAs authorized by lawmakers with the most recent approved in 2008. Most lacked dedicated funding, which meant benefit increases were provided by raiding pension assets.

By 2007, the best-funded state pension system was 83-percent funded and the worst (the teachers’ system) was only 52.6 percent funded.

Early in the last decade, lawmakers enacted several reforms, including a requirement to fully fund COLAs. Since that time, the pensions’ funded status has increased significantly. However, two systems remain funded at a level well below what many experts say is required to remain actuarially sound: The teachers’ and firefighters’ systems are only 72.4 percent and 70.8 percent funded, respectively.

Past estimates indicated more than half of any increase in unfunded liability created by a new COLA would accrue to the teachers’ retirement system.

McCall indicated that the $300 million in extra pension funding may be adjusted in future years to offset the associated costs of HB 3350.

“What we have control of is our commitment to funding, putting additional dollars into these pension funds each year,” McCall said.

He also noted some state pension systems are fully funded or close to it, which could allow lawmakers to redirect funding from those systems to their poorly funded counterparts.

“When they reach a certain solvency level and you’re continuing to contribute to those, then I think it’s fiscally prudent to consider the COLA,” McCall said.

House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman, said the House Democratic caucus has supported a COLA for several years.

“We were very grateful to find a great Republican partner in Representative Avery Frix,” Virgin said.

HB 3350 evades the provisions of prior pension reforms through language that redefines “nonfiscal retirement bill” to include “a cost-of-living benefit increase” enacted through HB 3350. Thus, the bill exempts itself from existing financial safeguards and is counted as having no fiscal impact despite an actual cost in the hundreds of millions.

HB 3350 now goes to the Senate for consideration.

House committee passes bills protecting teacher and student contact info

Rep. Tammy West Passes Bills Addressing Breach  of Teachers’, Children’s Private Information

OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Tammy West (R-Oklahoma City) passed two bills in committee recently addressing the breach of private information of public employees, including public school teachers, and children.

House Bill 3040 and House Bill 3460 will protect private and personal contact information for current and former public employees and Oklahoma public school students.

“This will keep third parties from being able to mine this sensitive information and capitalize on it,” West said. “This strengthens the language in statute to remove all doubt about how this information is to be protected and kept private.” 

House Bill 3040 shields certain private information, such as home addresses and phone numbers, social security numbers and private email addresses or private mobile phone numbers of current and former public employees from public inspection or disclosure.

House Bill 3460 allows all educational institutions to designate specific student information, such as a student’s name, address, and phone number, as classified directory information. Any educational institution that is not the primary custodian of the directory information, but that can access the directory for educational purposes, is prohibited from releasing or selling the information without written consent of the local school board. The State Board of Education and the State Department of Education are not permitted to designate student information as classified directory information, as stated above, but shall keep personally identifiable student information confidential unless authorized otherwise by federal law.

West said in the last month there have been two concerning breaches of private information. While such actions already are illegal, this legislation helps clarify the law and establishes expectations.

West said the language of the bills was a combined effort of the Oklahoma Public Employee Association, the Oklahoma Press Association and the State Department of Education.

Rep. Mike Osburn (R-Edmond) was a co-principal author of the bills and is chair of the House Government Efficiency Committee where the bills passed.

“Strengthening our privacy laws to protect our citizens’ private information should be one of the highest priorities,” Osburn said. “I was proud to work with Rep. West on this important legislation.”

Both bills are now eligible to be considered by the entire House.

Education, State Employee Unions push $900M tax increase

Proposed $900M tax hike plan

Three education and state employee unions have proposed a massive $900M tax increase to go toward their $3.3 billion increased spending plan. Below is their press release, with details of their tax hikes in the image above:

Organizations Outline $906 Million in Funding Sources to Fund Education and Provide Raises for State Employees

School Closures Still a Real Possibility If Legislature Doesn’t Act Soon

OKLAHOMA CITY ­­– The Oklahoma Education Association, the Oklahoma City American Federation of Teachers and the Oklahoma Public Employees Association today outlined a number of funding sources the Oklahoma Legislature could tap to fund education and avoid a state-wide school shutdown.

The plan, as outlined by OEA Executive Director David DuVall during a press conference, identifies $905.7 million in recurring revenue.

“When we announced the possibility of closing schools earlier this month we intentionally left out a specific plan because we thought the legislature knew where to find money to properly fund our schools,” DuVall said. “While we appreciate the efforts to find some answers, they have all fallen woefully short.

“What we are offering today is a road map to sustainable funding for our state.”

OEA’s funding suggestions include:

• $158.7 million through a 5 percent gross production tax
• $222.9 million in tobacco taxes
• $149.1 million in motor fuel taxes
• $177 million in income tax reform, restoration of the earned income tax credit and elimination the capital gains deduction.

Other revenue sources include taxes on alcohol, car tags, ball and dice games at Native American casinos, a hotel/motel tax, sales tax reform and a tax on wind generation.

If the legislature were to use all of the proposed revenue sources, it would find more than enough money to provide teachers with a $6,000 raise for the 2018-19 school year, a $2,500 raise for education support professionals (e.g. custodians, food service workers, secretaries, transportation workers, etc.) next year, general revenue for schools to reduce class sizes and purchase classroom materials, a raise for state employees and money to fund health care services that have been cut in recent months.

“Our students are the real victims of the legislature’s failure to properly fund education and our state core government services,” said OEA President Alicia Priest.  “Our class sizes have ballooned to impossible numbers. Our schools can’t buy text books for every child. We’ve dropped not only fine arts and foreign language courses, we’ve also dropped advanced placement classes.”

The OEA was joined at the press conference by OPEA Communications Director Tom Dunning and Oklahoma City AFT President Ed Allen.

Allen said the teacher shortage has been caused by low salaries.

“The last thing educators want to do is walk out of school on April 2. But believe me, that is exactly what will happen if they don’t see a substantial and adequate pay increase,” Allen said “Teachers have been leaving the school district on a regular basis because of the miserable salaries. There was a 25 percent turnover in Oklahoma City in 2017 and it’s mostly because of the low wages. We need to keep and attract great teachers and a good start is to pay them a livable wage.”

Dunning pointed out that state employees are need of a pay increase, too.

“State employees, whose pay is more than 20 percent below market, stand with public educators to insist Oklahoma’s leaders pass a significant pay raise plan and begin to restore funding because they are fed up with excuses for why they can’t have a pay raise,” said Tom Dunning. “While they continue to serve, despite lack of support from many state leaders, employees expect lawmakers to fund a substantial pay raise plan and restore state agency funding. If lawmakers don’t act, state employees and those they serve will have many questions as they go to the polls this fall.”

Priest said the association is moving forward with closing all Oklahoma schools if the legislature can’t find a way to fund education by April 1. As of the press conference, more than 125 school boards had passed resolutions supporting teachers who walk out.

“The legislature has the ability to keep us in the classroom on April 2,” she said. “There is time in the next week to pass these measures and invest in our children.”

Lamb supports OPEA's call for Tourism Department investigation

LAMB WELCOMES PUBLIC EMPLOYEE ASSOCIATION’S CALL FOR TOURISM DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATION

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, December 20, 2017 – Republican gubernatorial candidate Todd Lamb said today he welcomes an investigation into the Oklahoma Department of Tourism as called for by the Oklahoma Public Employees Association.

“As a member of the Tourism Commission, I welcome an investigation and support OPEA in their request,” Lamb said. “While a United States Secret Service agent, I regularly conducted thorough investigations, and believe they lead to greater clarity and transparency within the operations of public and/or private sector entities. Within the Tourism Department, information flows through the executive director and senior staff, and an investigation into that process is good public policy. OPEA’s request is one example of why I recently unveiled my Ethics in Government Reform Plan which contains the establishment of a state ombudsman within the office of the Oklahoma Attorney General. Any state employee could contact the ombudsman to bring forward concerns of waste, corruption or abuse without fear of repercussion.”


[More on the OPEA request here from FOX25 News]

Randy Terrill and the OPEA: Sweetheart Legislation and Funny Money

State Rep. Randy Terrill (R-Moore), widely known for his anti-illegal immigration legislation, could become known for something new: his close, and possibly illegal, ties to the Oklahoma Public Employees Association.

Two articles from the Daily Oklahoma point out his unsavory relationship with the labor union.

Terrill and the OPEA's Sweetheart Legislation

For years, state employees home addresses have not fallen under the Oklahoma Open Records Act, and have not been made public, for privacy and security reasons.

However, Terrill tacked on an amendment to a Conference Committee Report on House Bill 2245 at the very end of the 2009 legislative session that enables "any statewide organization limited to state employee membership with a minimum membership of two thousand dues-paying members" to receive a list of addresses for all state employees in order to send a once-annual mailing.

HB 2245, the Oklahoma Criminal Illegal Alien Repatriation Act of 2009, dealt with illegal immigrants in state prisons - not exactly a similar issue to unions getting access to state employee mailing lists.

OPEA named Terrill the 2009 legislator of the year, in part for his legislation giving them access to the mailing list. Terrill is a member of the OPEA union. The Oklahoman reports in more detail here.

I ask, why is a self-proclaimed "conservative" Republican so tight with a labor union? See the next article for just one reason...

Terrill and the OPEA's Contribution Problem

In the 2008 campaign, the OPEA political action committee contributed the maximum $5000 to Terrill's reelection campaign. An individual or PAC can only contribute up to $5000 to any campaign for the entire election cycle.

In August of 2009, OPEAPAC gave a $5000 maximum donation to Terrill's 2010 campaign. On October 21st, Terrill deposited the check into his campaign account. However, Terrill has not filed a 2010 campaign committee with the State Ethics Commission. State law requires for candidates to file with the Ethics Commission within 10 days of receiving more than $500 in contributions.

Since he has not filed a 2010 account, the donation was reported as going to his 2008 account - breaking ethics rules, since a campaign can receive only $5000 per cycle from any donor. The Oklahoman has another article on the issue here.


Terrill's sneaky, questionable actions and close ties to a labor union bother this conservative activist, and should concern every conservative in the state of Oklahoma. Conservatives decry slipping in major changes to law or policy at the very last minute when it happens in Congress, or when Democrats do it.

When a "conservative" legislator does both of these things, red flags should fly.