I was asked recently to give some thoughts on how Republicans became the overwhelming majority in the Oklahoma state Legislature over the last 16 years and to speak about the value of being in that position.

This shift really started in Oklahoma in 1994 with the election of former Gov. Frank Keating. He was the first Republican governor in our state to be elected to back-to-back terms. It then took 10 more years for Republicans to secure the majority in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and another four years to shift the state Senate, making all branches of state government Republican-led for the first time in our state’s history.

So, what brought this change?

Oklahomans had a frontrow seat for years to policies that left them high and dry when it came to freedom over how to spend their personal income.

First, Republicans promised and delivered tax relief. During the first year in the majority, Republicans voted the largest tax cut in Oklahoma history. The savings produced more than $200 million in tax relief for Oklahoma citizens in the first two years.

After a national recession began in 2008, we did have to revise our tax structure a bit, but we were able to do it through measures that did not raise income taxes.

We also reformed our outdated workers’ compensation system and enacted major tort reforms. These pro-business strategies brought more jobs to our state and boosted our economy. Next, we were able to enact some reforms to our Quality Jobs and Quality Investment Acts targeting incentives to industries that brought even more and better-paying jobs to our state. At the same time, we created a commission to study the incentives to ensure we are getting a good return on our investment.

We next made transportation a priority. Before Republicans took the majority, our state’s transportation system was underfunded for decades and our infrastructure was crumbling. In 2004, nearly 1,200 of our 6,800 highway bridges were considered structurally deficient, and we ranked as low as 49th place in national bridge condition rankings. The number of structurally deficient bridges has been reduced to 86 today, with each of those already scheduled for repair on the Oklahoma Department of Transportation’s eight-year plan. This year, we ranked 9th in the nation in national bridge condition rankings. We’ve also significantly improved the status of our state highways as well as our county roads and bridges.

In addition, Republicans prioritized our state pension systems. Again, when we took office, many of our state’s pension systems were significantly underfunded and suffering. We worked for the past decade to build and stabilize these plans. This year, our prudence allowed us to give our state retirees a needed Cost-of-living Adjustment. Several of our plans now are more than 100 percent funded, and most are more than 80%. This work has improved the state’s credit rating as well.

We’ve also made education funding a priority, increasing education funding by $650 billion over the last three years and giving teachers back-to-back pay raises totaling $7,300 per year. We’ve protected education funding even in tight budget years, such as this one when we faced an economic downturn due to a global trade war that depressed the price of oil and gas and the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, education received more than a $4 billion appropriation, which is more than 50% of the entire state budget. In addition, public schools this year received $200 million in federal stimulus funds to be used on any COVID-related expense.

These are just some of the successes we have achieved since taking the majority in state government. I’m proud of these achievements that were started by legislators elected before me, and I’m happy I got to help build on their positive foundation for our great state.

During my 12 years in the House, I’ve always stayed true to my beliefs, my convictions and my principles. I’ve always voted with my district even when it went against the grain of lawmakers from Oklahoma City and Tulsa and even some speakers of the house. I now leave this work to the generations of lawmakers who will serve after me.

As always, I’m here for you if you need anything. I can be contacted at Mike. Sanders@okhouse.gov or (405) 557-7407.