CapitolBeatOK Staff Report 

Published: 15-Mar-2010

Comments by Sen. President Glenn Coffee regarding a vote switch by Sen. Kenneth Corn are, Corn said, “laughable” because property taxes are already capped for those elderly property owners who need it.

In a statement sent to CapitolBeatOK, Corn said, “I guess Sen. Coffee and the Senate Republican leadership are more interested in grandstanding and demagoguing this issue, which has already been decided by the people, than they are in moving our state successfully through the $1.2 billion budget shortfall that threatens every Oklahoman.”

“All the resolution voted upon [Thursday, March 11] did was extend that idea to the richest Oklahomans who don’t need it – at the expense of schools, libraries and other important services,” the Poteau lawmaker said. “In a time when the education of our children is in jeopardy because of the current state budget crisis and districts are preparing to fire teachers, giving another bailout to wealthy people doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Corn initially voted for Senate Joint Resolution 57 but said, in his statement, he switched “when he remembered Oklahoma voters had already decided the issue.”

Four Republicans also opposed Senate Joint Resolution 57 – Sens. Patrick Anderson of Enid; Brian Crain of Tulsa; Jim Halligan of Stillwater; and David Myers of Ponca City. Sen. Jim Reynolds, an Oklahoma City Republican, sponsored the measure, which would require voter approval.