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Henry Says He's Bringing Realism To The Governor's Race
Wed Jul 3, 2002
By Ron Jenkins
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ State Sen. Brad Henry says he brings a healthy dose of
realism to the 2002 governor's race in Oklahoma.
"I'm not about making pie-in-the-sky promises, I'm not about telling people
simply what they want to hear," the 38-year-old Shawnee Democrat said. "With me,
you get what you see."
 Henry is one of four Democrats seeking to succeed Republican Frank Keating, who
cannot seek re-election. The others are fellow state Sen. Kelly Haney,
businessman Vince Orza and state Rep. Jim Dunegan. Seeking the GOP nomination
are former U.S. Rep. Steve Largent and political newcomer Jim Denny. Independent
Gary Richardson also is running.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Henry bemoaned the "unrealistic"
tax-cut programs promoted by other candidates, defended public schools and said
he is the only candidate with hands-on experience at solving state problems.
"Particularly in the post Sept. 11 times, people are looking for leaders with
real experience and accomplishment," he said. He said he had gained a reputation
as a lawmaker for taking on difficult, politically contentious issues.
He mentioned tort reform, workers' compensation and HMO reform as among the
tough issues he has tackled.
In the work comp area, Henry claimed ownership of most of the legislation that
has reduced the expense of the state system from over $1 billion to about $630
million the last several years.
"The thing that really sets me apart is I have an actual record of
accomplishment in producing real results on very difficult issues for Oklahomans
and I've done it by reaching across party lines and bringing all parties in so
we could build a consensus."
On taxes, he said other candidates have one of two approaches - total
elimination of the income tax without raising additional revenue or shifting the
tax burden from income taxes to new sales taxes on services.
"The truth is, any proposal to simply eliminate the income tax is not
realistic," Henry said. "It will gut education. It will gut transportation -
infrastructure, roads and highways - it will gut health care and human services
and it will gut our public safety and corrections programs."
"I know that Oklahomans understand that these proposals to eliminate $2 billion
of state revenue are just not realistic."
As far as moving to a consumption-based system by taxing services, Henry said
that could result in a tax cut for the most wealthy Oklahomans and a tax
increase for lower and middle income taxpayers.
He said a one-quarter-of-a-percent income tax cut approved under Keating may
have benefited some wealthy taxpayers, but other taxpayers did not notice it.
"On average, it amounted to about a Big Mac a week," while taking about $160
million from education and other services over three years, Henry said.
Henry's own tax-cut plan would cost about $200 million through eliminating the
state income tax on retirement pay.
Phased in over a few years, he said it would pay for itself by increasing the
state's retirement population and the state's tax base.
At the same time, he said it would help senior citizens of modest means who need
money for health care, drugs and groceries.
The tax break would not apply to investment income, Henry said saying he wanted
to "help the average retiree."
On education, the candidate urged increases in teacher pay and said the state
must have more college graduates to prosper.
Henry said it is time for Oklahomans to get past an inferiority complex on
education that is not based on fact.
"We have a great educational system in Oklahoma," he said. "It can be better,
but we get a great bang for our educational buck."
Despite being near the bottom in per capita school funding, Henry said Oklahoma
has some of the best prepared teachers in the nation and its high school
students score better on ACT tests than every other state in a 14-state southern
region.
He said his commitment to education goes unquestioned, mentioning that his wife,
Kim, is a teacher, as were his mother and grandparents. The Henrys three
children also go to public schools.
"I am ashamed that over the last eight years our commitment to education has
declined as a percentage of the state budget," Henry said. Education now gets 53
percent of the budget, down from 56 percent when Keating became governor, he
said.
"The current administration has not had the commitment to education that we must
have in Oklahoma if we are going to produce an educated work force so we can
attract the best paying jobs in Oklahoma," he said.
He said school reform and improvements must be demanded by public leaders, but
"it costs money and we have to be willing to make the investment."
Increasing teacher salaries is vital in the short term, he said. "If we don't
start paying our teachers a competitive salary, in five short years we are going
to be in a terrible, terrible position."
Already, he said, the state is facing a significant shortage of math, science
and special education teachers.
Henry, who advocates a state lottery to provide some education funding,
described himself as a "fiscal conservative and social moderate."
He was critical of the practice of dipping into the constitutional Rainy Day
Fund for non-emergency expenditures and the growth of spending on private
prisons.
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