OneVoice

2012 OneVoice State Issues

1. Increase funding for public PK-12, career and higher education and oppose any diversion of educational revenue sources such as property tax caps and tax exemptions and further reductions in the income tax rate.
   
   
2. Fund the Quick Action Closing Fund.
   
   
3. Support the building of the Gilcrease Expressway and Bridge through any funding mechanism available in order to expedite this long overdue transportation system; a partnership with the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation is strongly encouraged.
   
   
4. Support legislative action to preserve, expand, and diversify sources of revenue available to municipalities / locally elected city councils in order to stabilize and sustain essential local government operations and services on which citizens, businesses, and institutions rely to accomplish their respective missions.
   
   
5. Support currently unavailable specialty care services to the uninsured through new funding of $7 million annually to OU’s Tisdale Specialty Health Clinic and $2 million annually to the OSU Center for Health Sciences to expand primary care treatment and referral system supporting north Tulsa’s uninsured, the Tisdale Specialty Health Clinic and OSU Medical Center.
   
   
6. Defend all existing road funding; prevent any diversion of monies; and support increased funding for transportation by developing an adequate, comprehensive funding strategy to broaden the sources of funds and increase the total amount going to transportation statewide. Support moving the remaining thirty percent of motor vehicle fees, which currently goes into the state general revenue fund, to transportation priority areas which may include state highways, city and county streets, and public transit.
   
   
7. Support continued funding for the OSU Medical Center ($5 million annually).
   
   
8. Support a state bond issue for capital investment in the Oklahoma Historical Society's planned Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture to maximize private monetary and land donations.
   
   
9. Support ways to leverage and maximize federal funding of reimbursement programs such as Insure Oklahoma, SCHIP (State Children’s Health Insurance Program), Medicaid, Upper Payment Limit (UPL), Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) and Graduate Medical Education (GME).
   
   
10. Support $2 million in funding for the Tulsa Community Supercomputer. The installation and use of a supercomputer in northeast Oklahoma will help the Tulsa region foster, retain and attract high paying research jobs, while supporting the region’s existing health, energy, aerospace, nano and cyber business clusters.

2012 OneVoice Federal Issues

1. Support efforts to expedite the implementation of the Arkansas River Corridor Project for river infrastructure improvements. Allow federal match credit to be accrued for state and local expenditures in order to advance construction activity while preserving the Tulsa region’s access to future federal funding for this federally authorized project.
   
   
2. Support fair and equal treatment of local businesses through passage of the Main Street Fairness Act, allowing collection of sales tax from online sales and preventing the further erosion of our local merchants’ competitiveness. Without this Act, Oklahoma retailers will continue to operate at a competitive disadvantage versus out-of- state online retailers who refuse to collect sales taxes on sales made within Oklahoma.
   
   
3. Support timely reauthorization of the federal surface transportation programs including measures to permanently and adequately fund the Highway Trust Fund. Include funding for regional high priority projects: reconstruction of I-244; widening of I-44 east to the Will Rogers Turnpike; expansion of US 169 to 6 lanes north to SH 20; construction of a 4-lane Port Road from Hwy 11 to the Port of Catoosa; and the implementation of high priority transit corridors. 
   
   
4. Support Congressional appropriations for dredging and maintenance of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System and the lower Mississippi River. The McClellan-Kerr Navigation System provides unique access from businesses along that system to world markets.
   
   
5. Secure public funding for hospital services, urgent care, outpatient and specialty care services, FQHCs (Federally Qualified Health Centers) and graduate medical education at Tulsa based medical schools and academic medical centers to ensure appropriate access to care for the underserved patient population which relies upon the Tulsa healthcare network for services.
   
   
6. Attain approval of the Supplemental Hospital Offset Payment Program which provides new State funds to be matched with Federal funds to stabilize Medicaid enrollment, benefit and reimbursement efforts. Support for a H&CB provider fee class to allow Oklahoma to implement HB2828: Extend the home and community-based service class for an allowed provider fee to all 1915-c waiver programs.
   
   
7. Encourage members of Congress to restrict federal agency rulemaking authority so that rules potentially resulting in a strong detrimental economic impact to the business community are required to produce a proven environmental benefit in order to be passed. This includes, but is not limited to, regulatory initiatives related to the regulation of ozone levels, carbon and greenhouse gases and water. Support market-based solutions to unreasonable federal agency rulemaking. All federal agencies should be required to justify any harmful economic impact of the agency’s proposed rules by demonstrating the proven benefit to be gained by the rule. Support legislative and regulatory efforts which would require economic evaluations of existing and future regulatory actions by the US EPA and other federal agencies.
   
   
8. Support development of an intermodal freight transportation facility including port, airport, rail, and highway access.
   
   
9. Reauthorize the ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act) this year; if reauthorization does not happen, school districts should be granted relief from the sanctions of No Child Left Behind.
   
   
10. Support federal measures to secure borders, establish reasonable and efficient visa policies and procedures, and comprehensive reform at the federal level that recognizes the need for essential workers so the U.S. can continue to attract the best and brightest talent from around the world.