Kelly Haney

Haney working to create niche in governor's race

6-8-02
By Tim Talley
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ State Sen. Kelly Haney is trying carve a niche for himself in the race for governor by focusing on improving public education and making quality health care more accessible.

Haney, chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, said his more than two decades of experience in the Legislature, more than any other candidate, sets him apart from the others and gives him a different perspective on the state's needs.

"I am not about lotteries and I am not about turnpikes," Haney said, referring to the campaign pitches of some candidates. "I'm about those issues that I think Oklahomans think are real."

Haney, D-Seminole, served in the House from 1981 to 1986 before his election to the Senate. He has been appropriations chairman since 1994.

"I feel that with my experience, that I have the ability to move the state where we ought to be and where Oklahomans want it to go," Haney said.

"Government isn't managed the way it ought to be managed," he said. "I've become frustrated with the idea of putting out fires here and there. We do not have a coordinated, comprehensive plan for success."

Although he touts his experience as a lawmaker, Haney, 61, is riding a wave of notoriety unrelated to his work in the Legislature.

Haney, the first and only full-blood American Indian to serve in the Legislature, sculpted the 6,000-pound bronze statue of an American Indian warrior that was placed atop the state Capitol's new dome Friday.

Haney, of Seminole and Creek ancestry, was a featured speaker during the
ceremony and greeted throngs of tourists who photographed the artist and his work on the Capitol's north steps, where it was on display for a week.

"I have been on the international arts scene long before I came to the Legislature," Haney said. "My reputation as an international artist has been well-established. That's my livelihood. That's what I do."

Haney, a former council member with the Seminole Nation, graduated from
Oklahoma City University with a major in fine arts.

He has raised about $450,000 for his campaign and faces three opponents in the Aug. 27 Democratic primary for governor: Vince Orza, fellow state Sen. Brad Henry of Shawnee and state Rep. Jim Dunegan of Calera.

Others in the race for governor are Republicans Steve Largent and Jim Denny and independent Gary RICHARDSON.

Haney's platform concentrates on three areas: improving public education, creating more high-skilled, high-paying jobs and making quality health care more accessible to disadvantaged Oklahomans.

"No one has made the health issue a priority. I am making it a priority. I am putting it on the table," he said.

Haney said he has been a consistent supporter of the state's Medicaid agency, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, and will work to ensure that pharmacy benefits for seniors keep pace with the rising cost of prescription drugs.

Haney said he is troubled when he learns of Oklahomans who are struggling to survive and rely on state assistance.

"The most heartbreaking are the people who have worked hard all of their lives, good taxpaying citizens, who are injured on the job and they no longer can work. It is beyond their control," he said.

"I think it's for people such as that that the state is set up to try to provide them some help, to get them through this crisis."

Haney said he also wants to improve public education. If elected, he said he will devote more of the state's total budget toward education so teacher salaries can be increased and class sizes reduced.

"Education is not a quick fix," he said. "In order to do that, we simply have to place priority on some long term-goals."

As a lawmaker, Haney said he worked to increase the allotment for textbooks from $32 per student to $55 and backed the expansion of high challenge and alternative education in the state's high schools.

Two years ago, when Oklahoma teachers received their largest raises ever -- $3,000 a year -- Haney said he sponsored legislation to prevent local school districts from factoring benefits into the funding equation to make sure teachers got every penny of their salary increase.

"Public education has not been a priority. We need to push that to the forefront," he said.

Haney said the state will need reliable sources of revenue in order to accomplish his goals.

"To have the revenue, we need to have a strong economic base. What that means in my opinion is that we need to create more businesses," he said.

Haney said he will place a high priority on providing tax breaks and other incentives to emerging high-technology and biotechnology companies that will create high-paying jobs.

"I think we can do all those things simultaneously. Oklahoma has a cadre of brilliant planners to be able to achieve this goal," he said.

As governor, Haney said he will continue his support of the state's technology centers and will work to expand the urban-based Quality Jobs Program into rural areas.

He said he also will work to reduce bureaucratic red tape and make it easier for Oklahomans to start their own businesses and stay in business.

"My idea of success is progressively moving toward a predetermined goal," Haney said. "We don't have a comprehensive plan on how to achieve success.

"We have a lot of work to do in Oklahoma," he said. "I am just an eternal optimist. I believe Oklahoma can be the best."