Joe Newhouse reflects on Senate career, contributions to Oklahoma’s Turnaround

OKLAHOMA CITY – Sen. Joe Newhouse, R-Tulsa, on Thursday reflected on his eight years serving in the Oklahoma Senate. Newhouse opted not to seek reelection this year after serving two full terms.

“When I joined the Senate in 2016, Oklahoma was in a dire situation,” Newhouse said. “The state was facing record budget shortfalls, savings were nearly depleted and Oklahoma kept making national headlines for all the wrong reasons. Our citizens were embarrassed to call themselves Oklahomans. I’m proud that my work as a senator helped put Oklahoma on a better trajectory.”

Campaigning on a platform of responsible state governance, Newhouse vowed to prioritize efforts to diversify Oklahoma’s economy, lower taxes, boost state savings, increase teacher pay, and champion school choice policies. After two terms in the Senate, Newhouse said he has delivered on those campaign pledges.

“Oklahoma’s Turnaround has been a team effort,” Newhouse said. “Many of us in the legislature, myself included, partnered with Governor Stitt to bring positive, meaningful and conservative changes to how we do business in Oklahoma. The results have been nothing short of dramatic.”

When Newhouse first entered office, the state had a paltry $70 million in its Rainy Day Fund. Today, there’s more than $1.3 billion in the fund as state savings accounts are at record highs.

Likewise, when Newhouse was first elected, the state appropriated about $2.3 billion annually for K-12 education. Now, the state’s annual investment in public education has been boosted to nearly $4 billion.

A commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve, Newhouse was temporarily recalled to active duty three times throughout his Senate career. His longest deployment — 16 months — coincided with the 2018 legislative session, which was defined by the teacher walkout and a rare legislative vote to raise taxes. Newhouse said he felt torn between serving his state and his country at the time while he was deployed to fight ISIS as part of Special Operations Command Africa.

A former vice chairman of the Senate Education Committee, Newhouse supported multiple public education funding packages that included pay raises for Oklahoma’s 45,000 teachers and more money for schools. He also helped shepherd historic school choice legislation that allows families to qualify for tax credits of up to $7,500 per child attending private school. Newhouse has long said children receive the best education when their parents can choose between strong public schools and affordable private schools.

While state savings and education appropriations have dramatically increased during Newhouse’s two terms in office, the overall tax burden has decreased thanks to tax cuts he supported. The state’s top personal income tax rate has dropped to 4.75%, corporate income taxes dropped from 6% to 4% and all Oklahomans are saving money at the grocery store after the elimination of the state’s grocery tax last month.

Of the 20 bills Newhouse authored that became law, he said he was most proud of Senate Bill 550 from 2021, which was the culmination of several years of work. He partnered with the Oklahoma State Medical Association and leading insurance providers to improve the insurance claims denial process to make it easier for Oklahomans to get coverage of doctor-recommended prescriptions and procedures. Beforehand, insurance companies could deny a medical claim without providing a reason, but Newhouse’s legislation required insurers to explain their denials and provide a phone number for providers to reach a company representative for further coordination. This bipartisan legislation freed Oklahoma families and medical providers from endless hours on hold with insurance companies and set the stage for countless other health care reforms in recent years.

Newhouse also said he was proud of laws he authored that made it harder for people to fraudulently claim benefits reserved for disabled veterans and allowed for juvenile competency hearings to be held via videoconference.

Most importantly though, Newhouse said he knows Oklahoma’s image has improved tremendously. As Oklahoma becomes a leader on the national stage, people across the country are discovering what makes this state so great, he said.

“Senator Joe Newhouse has been a strong conservative leader, and I appreciate everything he has done to help make Oklahoma a Top Ten state,” said Governor Kevin Stitt. “His commitment to limited government, lower taxes and business-friendly policies will be greatly missed.”

Newhouse said he is eternally grateful to the family, friends, and campaign supporters who stood by his side through both choppy and calm waters during his two Senate terms. And after a time of rest and reflection, he looks forward to returning to public service to once again serve the state of Oklahoma and this great nation.

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For more information, contact Sen. Joe Newhouse at (405) 521-5675 or Joe.Newhouse@oksenate.gov