Agricultural News
Governor Stitt Challenges Cattlemen to Dream Big In 2020 and Beyond
Tue, 28 Jan 2020 16:22:59 CST
Leadoff speaker for the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association policy meeting this year in Midwest city was Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt.
After his comments with the cattle producers, Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays had the chance to talk to him about upcoming initiatives for 2020. One of the first being his health care proposal, "I'll be announcing later on this week our health care proposal which I'm really excited about it. Because as you know, there's a ballot initiative coming out this summer, called state question 802, that is a wrong way to expand health. It's not going to deliver health care to rural Oklahoma like my plan will, so I'm so excited to roll that out. We'll also be talking about agency accountability, how we're going to manage state agencies because my job as the CEO of the state, is to continue to deliver great services. Continue to be top 10 in roads and bridges, continuing to be top 10 in public safety. So, all those things I'm going to continue to drive forward this next year.
Stitt added that the gaming compact is something that is at the front of his mind as well, "We've got to negotiate a fair deal for Oklahoma. Oklahomans are with me on this issue, no contract goes on forever. That's what the other side's trying to say; I don't blame them, they've got the best deal in the country. So they're trying to tell everybody they go on forever. That's just simply not the case. So I'm going to continue to fight that battle, Oklahomans are with me on it. 88% of the money we get from the casino industry goes to education, and I need Oklahomans to support us on that. "
Still says going forward, he hopes to inspire all the state agencies to think bigger and do a better job for Oklahomans, which includes providing opportunities for rural Oklahoma, "There's so many great things about living in rural Oklahoma. You've got all the land; You've got the cleanest air, cleanest water in the country, there's manufacturing opportunities. Oklahoma is one of the lowest utility cost states in the country. So I think the economic development folks and the citizens, we've got to continue to develop our workforce. That starts with education, but also attracting some of those manufacturing jobs to our state. We don't need to compete city by city, but we also need to kind of think of our state in quadrants. And that's what I'm pushing our Commerce Department to do. We have made countless visits, I think 2800 visits, and phone calls to companies and we've got about 2.9 billion in new investments just since I've taken office. A lot of that's going to rural Oklahoma, and I'm just excited to continue to push that narrative."
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