Republican House Leaders Side with Bureaucrats and Kill Pro-Business Measure

A bill aimed at strengthening small businesses and upgrading the skills of Oklahoma’s workforce was rendered dead when Republicans in the House refused to allow an “up-or-down” vote on Senate Bill 2047. The author’s measure, Senator Debbe Leftwich, a Democrat from Oklahoma City, said the bill had the support of several pro-business establishments in the state, including the State Chamber of Commerce.

“Republicans have turned their backs on the businesses of Oklahoma by not hearing this bill,” Leftwich said. “The only folks opposed to the measure were a group of misinformed bureaucrats, yet the Republicans in the House refused to support this common sense measure. I must say the inaction by the House on this measure proves the pro-business rhetoric of the Republicans certainly doesn’t match their record.”

Leftwich explained that SB 2047 directs the Department of Commerce to utilize $20 million from the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund to expand the Existing Worker Training Program. She said the program has already proven successful in fulfilling the training needs of companies throughout Oklahoma—including the Goodyear Tire in Lawton, and CM Trailers in Madill, a small town in rural Oklahoma.

“This is a very pro-business, pro-growth bill, but more importantly this is a pro-Oklahoma bill,” Leftwich said. “SB 2047 has the support of the Department of Commerce, the Governor’s Council for Workforce and Economic Development and is backed by the State Chamber of Commerce, yet despite all this support it was not granted an “up-or-down” vote of the full House.”

Leftwich said currently the program utilizes $1 million of federal funds to benefit more than 30 companies that are upgrading the skills of their employees, which she says is essential to remaining competitive in today’s growing global economy. Leftwich said the bill does not add any news costs to companies that do business in Oklahoma; rather it redirects monies that businesses currently already pay in unemployment insurance costs to be used for the training of their own workforce.

“Imagine the message we could have sent companies all across our state if the House would have passed this measure. That message would have been loud and clear that Oklahoma is a business friendly state and we believe in investing in our workforce,” Leftwich said. “But the House instead chose to send the message that protecting turf for bureaucrats was far more important than doing what was right for Oklahoma companies.”

The Senator said the bill strengthens small businesses by allowing companies that might not otherwise be able to afford to upgrade the skills of their workforce to do so with the very money they already pay in unemployment insurance costs.

“If we want to attract new companies to Oklahoma and keep the companies that are already located here, we must give businesses the tools they need to be successful. That begins with ensuring that their employees are as skilled and trained in the newest technology as possible,” said Leftwich, Chairman of the Senate Business and Labor Committee in the Senate.

“We have a responsibility to do everything we can to ensure that our citizens are ready to compete in this ever changing global economy, and sadly when the Republicans chose not to hear this bill they effectively turned their noses up to the hard-working citizens of this state and to the business community all in one fell swoop.”