State Senate finalists give their positions
This year’s two finalists for state senator from District 38 found points of agreement and disagreement during a forum held Tuesday night at the Weatherford City Hall.
The district is composed of five southwest Oklahoma counties – Harmon, Jackson, Greer, Kiowa and Washita – plus the Clinton and Wea-therford voting precincts in Custer County.
In opening statements, both candidates pointed to their western Oklahoma heritage. Speaking first by draw, Democrat Jeff Berrong of Weatherford reminded voters that his grandfather was the late Ed Berrong, who served more than two decades in the State Senate starting in 1959 and continuing through 1980. He also headed a Weatherford insurance agency that the grandson is involved in today.
Republican Brent Howard of Altus said he grew up on a 2,800-acre wheat and cattle farm that his great-grandfather started. He said he went back to school and got a law degree after his father advised him he needed to do something that would be more profitable than farming.
After the introductions, each candidate was given three minutes per response to answer questions submitted from an audience estimated by Mayor Mike Brown at about 100 people. They both answered the same questions but alternated who went first. Following are the questions condensed, along with paraphrased, sometimes partial answers.
Q: What is the biggest problem facing the State of Oklahoma today?
Howard: How are we going to build our economy and get entrepreneurs to come here. We also need an educational system that encourages people to stay here.
Berrong: People don’t want to come where they’re worried about education and health care. Oil is about $75 a barrel now. We’re looking at having more revenue, and we’ve got to invest more back in ourselves.
Q: Would you support a tax increase for education and a teacher pay raise? Specifically, would you support raising the Gross Production Tax on new wells from 5 to 7 percent for 36 months?
Berrong: S.Q. 640 passed in 1992 requires a 75-percent super majority to raise new revenue. We’ve got to be in full crisis to get the legislature to support a tax increase. This year I supported a raise in the Gross Production Tax from 2 percent to 5 percent (which it now will be after a well has been producing for three years). H.B.1010xx was the first revenue-raising measure to pass since 640 was passed. I don’t want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg.
Howard: We just passed the largest tax increase in state history, on a bipartisan basis, and we’re only two months into it. Revenue is going to increase from oil and gas prices going up. We’re going to have increased revenue without raising taxes. The most effective tax is the one that causes the least disruption of the market. Another increase in the Gross Production Tax? I think we need to see the impact of the last one before passing more.
Q: Despite last year’s teacher walkout, we have almost 2,600 emergency certifications (of teachers). What is your plan to reverse this trend?
Howard: There’s not an easy answer. It’s something that has to be built. My dad had three kids and he told all three of us, don’t come into farming. The perception was the money wasn’t there. His advice was to do something that makes you money. We have teachers saying the same thing today. We were way behind on what we should have been paying. Teachers have had a tough race the last 15 years. We can’t have teachers, farmers or oilmen saying don’t come into our profession. It’s about respect.
Berrong: We have to treat teachers with respect. We have had so many leave the profession, it’s going to take years to catch up. If you’re a teacher, I’ll bet you’d say you were a better teacher after your eighth year than after your first, second or third. We’ve got so many that have left the profession, but now we’re second in the region in pay. We’ve made great strides. Was it class sizes or money (that was causing them to leave)? We have to make sure. We’ve got to analyze what we value, what we prioritize. I think we can fix it. I’m an optimist.
Q: What do you think about removing sales tax exemptions for agriculture?
Berrong: I would not be in favor of repealing them. Agriculture sales tax exemptions are sacrosanct. I would be interested in seeing what other states have sales tax exemptions on. By and large, I think the sales tax is about where it’s going to be.
Howard: Farming is the only industry that buys retail and sells wholesale, whether it’s machines or seed. Every other state has sales tax exemptions. They’re in 49 other states we’re competing against. I would be completely against removing them. It takes a $300,000 tractor to raise $3-a-bushel wheat. Without farmers, everything else would not be able to be here. The exemptions are in line with every other state.
Q: Colleges and universities have lost 25 percent of their state support, so they’re raising tuitions. What are your thoughts about funding higher education?
Howard: We have to make up what’s been cut, through tuition and fee increases. In the last five years Western Oklahoma State College (at Altus) has raised tuition from $114 to $142 (per credit hour). We’ve lost 25 to 28 percent of our state funding. We need to subsidize students – get them to learn here, stay here, and work here. We can’t just have wealthy people getting a higher education.
Berrong: Back in the 1970s, the state was picking up the tab for about 70 percent of tuition. Now it’s 16 or 17 percent. Tuition has gone way up. Are we going to stand up and invest in ourselves? There’s a commission right now that’s come up with proposals to streamline education. I’m for finding economy in government where we can, but we’ve got to support higher education.
Q: What is your view of guns on college campuses?
Berrong: Law-abiding citizens should be able to carry weapons.
Howard: That’s a question that needs to be asked at the board of regents level. We’re not electing the smartest legislators, so that’s a decision that needs to be made as close to home as possible. If people don’t want guns on campus, they need to let their board of regents know.
Q: Of the 30 states that allow medical marijuana, Oklahoma’s law has some of the broadest language. Do we need to amend any part of State Question 788?
Howard: The law was passed by vote of the people. It’s not been in place long enough to see what effect it will have. I know in District 38 it failed overwhelmingly, so it’s going to be tough. I don’t think it can be addressed in the first couple of years. I’m not in favor of it at all, but I’m not in favor of overriding the vote of the people either.
Berrong: If elected, I intend to carry out the will of the people in the most responsible way possible. There are lots of things that need to be fleshed out. A joint committee is going over hundreds of pages now, trying to figure out how to make this work. Municipalities are putting in ordinances – Weatherford is looking. At some point we are going to need legislative clarification. We don’t want to have regulations that go against the spirit of what voters passed, but I think municipalities would like to have more leadership.
Q: Oklahoma has a high prison incarceration rate. What are your views on criminal justice reform?
Berrong: We need to be looking more into alternative sentencing, drug courts, reforming the parole process. Our parole process is broken in this state. If we don’t change, we’re going to be spending close to a billion dollars to build new prisons instead of schools. Drug court enrollment has dropped. A lot of people in that situation are not thinking clearly; they don’t see the need. Yet it’s vitally important to the future of our state.
Howard: We need to look at reforms to see non-violent offenders rehabilitated. Drug courts are a phenomenal opportunity to do that. It costs $20,000 to keep a person in prison versus $5,000 in drug court, and the person in drug court pays most of his cost. Another alternative is mental health courts. We need to look at expanding those. If it’s a mental health issue, there’s an alternative way to get them what they need. But we don’t need to be turning violent offenders loose. We need to be able to separate them from society.