“A Vote Against a Better Oklahoma,”

On Monday night, the Step Up Oklahoma plan was defeated by the Oklahoma House of Representatives, only receiving 63 of the necessary 76 votes to pass.

Step Up Oklahoma is a group comprised of business, civic and community leaders with the goal of working with lawmakers to stabilize state revenue, reform government and raise teacher salaries by $5,000 a year.

House Speaker Charles McCall held a news conference late Monday evening to persuade House Democrats to vote in favor of the bill by midnight. According to McCall, the bill was their best shot at a revenue package.

However, House Democrats thought otherwise. Democrats responded with a news release that stated the bill was “far from equitable and left unaddressed many of our state’s needs.” The Democrats also argued the bill would force working families to pay more while asking little of some of the wealthiest citizens of Oklahoma in the oil and gas industry.

Of the 72 Republicans in the House, 53 voted in favor of the bill, as did 10 of the 28 Democrats. One seat remains vacant.

David Rainbolt, BancFirst executive chairman and spokesman for the Step Up Oklahoma coalition said Monday night’s vote was a “dark day for education.”

“We lost the teacher pay raise, we lost the public employee pay raise,” Rainbolt said. “We lost our ability to balance the budget with new revenues.”

The teacher pay raise was perhaps one of the most crucial aspects of the proposed bill. House Appropriations and Budget Committee Chairman Kevin Wallace said he believed the bill was the best opportunity to generate recurring revenue for the state.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin even took to social media to convey her thoughts on the package.

“After listening to the Step Up plan, there is no bigger, better plan,” Fallin said in a tweet. “This is the only plan. A ‘no’ vote is a vote against funding a teacher pay raise, a vote against funding our health and human services and protecting our most vulnerable citizens, a vote against putting our state on a stable path forward. A vote against a better Oklahoma.”

The bill would have raised the tax on cigarettes by $1.50 a pack, increased tax on gasoline and diesel fuel by six cents a gallon, raised the initial gross production tax on oil and natural gas from two to four percent and placed an additional 10 percent tax on chewing tobacco, among others.

Now, House members must either begin planning budget cuts or find another way to create revenue.

Teacher pay has been a long-debated issue in the state of Oklahoma. According to one study, it can take a teacher with a degree 11 years to reach the gas station QuikTrip’s starting salary for full-time employees.

Teachers have one of the most important, yet underappreciated careers. It is no wonder Oklahoma school systems are experiencing a teacher shortage and losing their educators to states such as Texas and Kansas.

The Oklahoma House had the chance to help improve our state’s teacher shortage and show more appreciation for our educators, but they failed miserably.

It is long overdue for Oklahoma to step up for its educators.

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