Weekly Opinion Editorial

MONKEY BUSINESS?
by Steve Fair

Representative David Dank, (R-OKC) is on a mission to look into Oklahoma tax credits that are not doing what they were set up to do- create jobs and stimulate Oklahoma’s economy.
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The two programs Dank is concerned about are the Small Business Capital Formation Incentive Act and the Rural Venture Capital Formation Act. Both were established to encourage investments by small business ventures that are more risky than traditional business. The business must be a ‘small’ business as defined by the SBA, have half their assets or employees in Oklahoma, and cannot be a non-profit. If a small business is in a metropolitan area, they qualify for a 20% tax credit. If located in a rural area, the credit can be up to 30%.
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In April, Dank asked Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to file a lawsuit seeking a court ruling on whether some of the tax credits are unconstitutional. Dank would like for the suit to go directly to the Oklahoma Supreme Court and see if some of the tax credits can be paid back.
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In December, then Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson said the thought the two programs were “constitutionally infirm,” saying that just the mere investment of money into a business does not satisfy the three criteria of promoting a public purpose, involving adequate consideration and have adequate controls and safeguards in place.
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Dank said Edmondson’s opinion reflected his own concerns about some credits: “If they don’t create jobs, if they don’t create economic stimulus, if they don’t contribute more to the state than what they’re getting back in taxpayer monies, then are these tax credits constitutional?”
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“Do the math on it,” Dank says, “The number of jobs they say they created based on the number of tax credits that they get, it’s about $230,000 per job. There’s something that’s just not right about that, in my opinion.”
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Oklahoma is not the only state looking at tax credits. In Monday’s edition of USA Today, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-06-05-states-budgets-tax-incentives-Michigan_n.htm, it was reported that Michigan eliminated several tax credits, including those for small donations made to universities, food banks, museums and public television. The changes were part of a tax overhaul by Republican Governor Rick Snyder that he says will spur job growth. In Ohio, they are reviewing their tax credits to help solve that state’s over 8 billion dollar budget shortfall. In Montana, they repealed a number of clean air tax credits to help their energy and construction businesses. In Missouri, the Supreme Court is looking to strike down tax credits for a developer who has failed to live up to his promise to build up North St. Louis.
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Tax credits are very valuable to a business. They differ from a tax ‘deduction’ because they actually reduce a tax bill. A tax deduction only reduces the taxable income. Bear in mind that businesses ‘never’ pay taxes. They only collect them. The consumer pays the tax, so if a business can reduce their tax burden, in theory, they will reduce the price of their goods and services to their customer. Dank believes the two tax credits mentioned above don’t reduce prices nor do they create jobs- they are simply corporate welfare.
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Corporate welfare is a term describing a government's bestowal of money grants, tax breaks, or other special favorable treatment on corporations. Some believe it should never be used, is inconsistent with capitalism because it converts the businessman into a lobbyist. That’s a valid argument, but in today’s competitive jobs environment, tax credits, incentives and grants are tools that help spur local economic development and create jobs. Can tax credit programs be misguided and abused? Sure, and it appears Dank has found two major areas where they are being abused.
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Using tax dollars to help private business in America is not a bad spend of our tax money. That’s a whole lot better than helping foreign governments and foreign businesses who then compete against American firms.
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President Calvin Coolidge made a speech in 1925 entitled, “The Press Under a Free Government.” In the speech he said, “After all, the chief business of the American people is business.” Dank believes the tax credits programs in Oklahoma are monkey business.

Fellow blogger Mike McCarville has a short well written opinion/editorial entitled His 'Punishment' Is A Crime. The op/ed addresses the imprisonment of 1st Lt. Michael Behenna of Edmond. It's worth the read- click on http://wwwtmrcom.blogspot.com/

Weekly Opinion Editorial

by Steve Fair

The 2011 session of the Oklahoma legislature is officially over. They adjourned on Friday May 20th, completing their business a week before the constitutionally mandated Sine Die date of May 27th. ‘Adjournment sine die’ is Latin meaning ‘without day.’ It simply means an assembly has adjourned without appointing a day on which to appear or assemble again.
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Under Article 5 Section 26 of the Oklahoma Constitition legislative sessions begin at noon on the first Monday in February of every odd-numbered year, shall not exceed one hundred and sixty days, and shall be finally adjourned by no later than five o'clock p.m. on the last Friday in May of each year. By getting done a week early, the legislature saved Oklahomans around $100,000.
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“This was a very successful legislative session,” said House Speaker Kris Steele, R-Shawnee. “The Legislature laid an ambitious foundation for the state this year that will allow us to reach our full potential.”
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“I am very happy about this session and all that the Senate accomplished this year,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa. “As a state, Oklahoma is moving in the right direction.”
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The current legislature is the most Republican in state history. There are seventy (70) Republicans in the State House and thirty two (32) Republicans in the State Senate. That along with a newly elected Republican governor has given the GOP an opportunity to pass legislation that will move the state forward.
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“We live in a conservative state, the people have spoken and we are listening,” said Bingman. “Our priorities were to reform state government in a way that eliminates inefficiencies and duplication so that government size and costs are reduced. The federal government should follow our lead in cutting government, including the tax cuts that we enacted.”
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“The breadth of the accomplishments by the Legislature and our other statewide leaders this year is remarkable,” said House Speaker Kris Steele, R-Shawnee. “Oklahomans can take pride in knowing the state is set up to grow and thrive in the 21st century.”
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Governor Fallin said, “Conservatives came into office this year promising to pursue reforms that would create a better business environment, encourage private sector job-growth, and make government smaller, smarter and more efficient.”
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This year the legislature passed meaningful workers comp reform, lawsuit reform, cut the state income tax from 5.5% to 5.25%, accomplished re-districting without a great deal of controversy and passed a 6.5 billion dollar balanced budget. In years past if a legislation had accomplished just one of the first three, conservatives would have been dancing in the streets, but how soon we forget how it used to be.
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In years past, Democrat controlled legislatures would nibble around the edges of the important issues and pass some meaningless bill on workers comp or lawsuit reform that kept the trial lawyer lobby happy. This session’s lawsuit and workers comp reform bills authored by Senator Anthony Sykes, (R-Moore) had the trial lawyer lobby so incensed they spent thousands of dollars attacking Sykes on an off-election year. They sent mailers to his constituents in his district. They ran television commercials attacking him. This legislation wasn’t a nibble, it was a bite and Sykes, an attorney, deserves praise for his courage to stay the course and see the reforms signed into law.
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The 2011 Oklahoma GOP House members deserve praise because in spite of distractions from a handful of GOP members whose childish tactics unnecessarily stalled legislation they publically said they supported, the members as a whole stuck with their agenda. They endured vile, hateful rhetoric from a political activist who attacked legislators personally and claimed to speak for thousands, but could only muster up a couple of dozen for a rally.
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The House increased transparency by making Conference Committee meetings open to the public. This was an important step in making sure Oklahomans can know what is going on in their government. It wasn’t that long ago that a private citizen finding out the status of a bill was akin to searching for Jimmy Hoffa’s body. By opening up the process, the back rooms at the Capital were closed.
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The big issue the 2012 legislature will have to address is Oklahoma’s unfunded pension plans. While this crisis was not created by the current members, but by past legislatures, it must be dealt with. According to some estimates, Oklahoma’s pension plans will run out of money by 2020 if something is not done. The legislature made some progress this session, but more work is necessary to insure the plans don’t default.
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What ‘grade’ does the 2011 legislature deserve this session? An A+, because when compared to what past legislatures have accomplished the 2011 session will go down as one of the most productive in state history.

Weekly Opinion Editorial

IT’S ABOUT TIME!

by Steve Fair

Workers' compensation is a form of insurance that provides wage replacement and medical benefits for employees who are injured in the course of employment. At the turn of the 19th century workers’ compensation laws were voluntary because many felt workers’ compensation laws violated the 14th amendment’s due process . Since workers’ compensation mandated benefits without regard to fault or negligence, many felt that compulsory participation would deprive the employer of property without due process.

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That issue of due process was resolved by the United States Supreme Court in 1917 when in New York Central Railway Co. v. White it was held that an employer’s constitutional rights weren't affected. After the ruling most states enacted new compulsory workers’ compensation laws, requiring businesses to pay the premiums.

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Rest assured those mandated premium costs were passed onto the customers in the form of a price increase. Businesses don’t pay taxes, consumers pay taxes. Companies don’t want to do business in a state where the workers comp premiums and system put them at a competitive disadvantage.

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For years Oklahoma’s workers compensation program had among the highest premiums for businesses and some of the lowest payouts to injured workers in the country. According to the National Academy of Social Insurance, Oklahoma ranked 14th in the nation for largest increase in total workers’ compensation benefits paid out from 1999 to 2008. During the nine year period, Oklahoma had a dramatic 68.11 percent increase in benefits paid, despite fewer workplace injuries and illnesses in the state.

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Because the trial lawyer lobby in Oklahoma was so powerful, it appeared no meaningful workers comp reform would ever happen in Oklahoma, but this year, the legislature may have slipped one by the lawyers.
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Senator Anthony Sykes, (R-Moore) and Representative Dan Sullivan, (R-Tulsa) are the authors of SB 878, a workers comp bill that passed the Senate 48-0 last week with no debate. It passed the House 88-8 and now goes to the Governor Fallin where it is expected to be signed into law. Workers compensation reform is one of Governor Fallin’s priority agenda items.
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Back in March when asked about workers comp, Fallin said, “Oklahoma’s workers’ compensation system is one of the most expensive, least efficient systems of its kind in the nation. It represents a real obstacle to business recruitment and retention and drives jobs out of state. Our plan creates a system that is fair to both workers and employers, lowers costs and helps us in our mission of creating a better environment for business growth and job creation in Oklahoma.”
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Senator Sykes says SB #878 will not take benefits away from injured workers, but outlines a better way to handle workers compensation. The bill has whopping eighty-seven sections. Here are some of the tenets of SB #878:
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It requires Oklahoma Workers Compensation Courts to require adoption of official disability guidelines, reduce the maximum time an individual can draw temporary total disability from 300 weeks to 156 weeks, allow for vocational rehab to start even while an injured worker is still on temporary disability and reduces the medical costs for medical providers to the Medicare fee schedule.
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It will also change the definition of permanent total disability by requiring that an injured worker prove that permanent disabilities actually prevent them from gainful employment.
Another provision requires that treatment plans for injured workers follow nationally recognized standards. Another provision requires that doctors making recommendations on a worker’s disability be specialists on the injuries they’re diagnosing.
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Last year, one proposal the legislature toyed with for reforming workers comp was to attempt to privatize CompSource Oklahoma. CompSource is a non-profit, self-supporting and self-sustaining insurance company created by the state. CompSource does not receive state appropriated dollars, but operates based on investment income and premiums generated from policyholders. In other words, CompSource doesn’t cost the taxpayers a nickel and provides a safety net for companies required to have workers comp insurance. After an uproar from the business community, the plan was thankfully scratched.

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The legislature did pass other workers comp reform measures last year- one which reduced the number of Workers Comp judges from ten to eight and another that exempted employers from liability for injuries arising outside the course of employment.
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Workers comp is important. When you consider the top five factors in business site selection are taxes, workers comp, tort reform, labor availability and cost of living, it’s clear you can’t have a workers comp system that penalizes business and expect to move the state forward.

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On the campaign trail last year Republicans, led by Fallin, said they would pass meaningful workers comp reform if voters gave them the opportunity. This week they delivered on that promise. Sykes, Sullivan and Fallin should be commended as well as the entire legislature for finally taking on a tough issue. SB 878 will move the state forward.

GROWING UP TOO FAST!

by Steve Fair

State Representative Dennis Johnson, (R-Duncan) is the author of House Bill #1465 that would move the cutoff date for pre-K and kindergarten students from September 1^st to July 1^st. Under the bill, all children who are four years old by July 1 would be eligible for pre-K classes and children who are five years old by July 1 would be eligible for kindergarten.

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“The intent of this bill is to make sure the students who are enrolling in kindergarten classes are prepared to be there. We’re seeing strong indications that growing numbers of Oklahoma kindergarteners aren’t quite ready to begin the kindergarten learning process. Waiting until these students are prepared is the best thing for the students, the teachers and the families,” said Johnson.

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With these younger children, a couple months of development can make an enormous difference in their readiness for the rigors of schools,” Johnson said. “It is harmful to a child’s academic development if they begin their learning process behind the older children in their class, and the teachers I have heard from are seeing this every year in their classes.”

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The legislation has passed the House, 78-16, and Senate, 45-0. It is awaiting action from the Senate Education Conference Committee.

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“I hope the Senate conference committee will agree with the overwhelming amount of legislators who have voted for this bill. It is a reform that must be passed to help our students, teachers and families,” Johnson said.

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House Bill 1465 also has the support of the Professional Educators of Oklahoma, which conducted a survey that showed 96.7 percent of teachers believe the cutoff date should be moved from Sept. 1 to July 1.

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There are some advantages of starting kindergarten early. The child can make new friends, learn new things, and get a head start on their education. Many four year olds are developmentally ready to begin kindergarten and do quite well. This means the child will graduate from high school and college early and be out in the workplace a year in advance.

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But there are disadvantages to allowing a child to start kindergarten early. First, most kids who start kindergarten early are physically small compared to the other students which can lead to their getting picked on. Another drawback is that many of the younger students simply are not emotionally or developmentally ready for kindergarten. Today’s kindergarten involves academics and learning and is not just play time. So, the child needs to be ready to learn, be able to pay attention, follow directions, and handle being at school for seven hours a day. The real question is how does starting school early impact a child academically in the long term?

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In a study published in the Journal of Educational Research, Sandra L. Crosser compared academic achievements of seventh through ninth graders who entered kindergarten at age five with those of children who entered at age six. The findings indicated there were significant statistical differences that favored older males and females, especially in reading for older males.

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That lends credence to world famous Australian family therapist, Steve Biddulph theory about boys. He says in his book, “Raising Boys,” that males should start school later than females. “In general, I encourage parents to hold their boys out of school a year longer if they possibly can,” Biddulph says. Most boys I know would agree. School and academics are usually not at the top of their priority list. Ronald Reagan said, “There are advantages to being elected President. The day after I was elected, I had my high school grades classified Top Secret."

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In a perfect world, the decision on whether a child was mature enough to start school would be left up to the child’s parents, but according to a 2009 survey by Baby Center/Parent Center, one third of parents don’t believe their child is ready for school when they start. Another factor is the decline of parental involvement in their children’s lives. Many parents simply want to get the kids out of the house as early as possible. They use the public education system as a ‘babysitting service.’ Whether the child is ready for school emotionally or academically is the least of their concern.

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Johnson’s bill should be signed into law. It will allow kids to mature and be better prepared for school, help our professional educators in the classroom and improve education in Oklahoma. As kids will soon find out, being grown up isn’t half as much fun as growing up.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14; 18

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
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Pastor Bruce shared some details of papa's life; his love for family, his love for fishing, his skills as a carpenter and gardener. Those were the things that occupied my grandfather's time, but those things did not make my grandfather. A person is more than the sum of their activities and interests, a person is more than the flesh and blood body that walks this earth. A person is a spiritual being with a soul and to understand a person you must understand their soul and the spiritual direction of their life.
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Joe's spiritual direction changed on February 22, 2001. On that day Pastor Bruce led my grandfather to the Lord. From that day on Joe was more than a father, grandfather, fisherman, or carpenter, he was a child of God. And because he was a child of God he had a newfound hope and those of us that are children of God have that same hope; hope that we'll be in the presence of God one day and even reunited with Joe.
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There are three thoughts that I'd like to share with you from these verses and my prayer is that these thoughts will provide an anchor for your soul. Perhaps Joe was dear to you and you need an anchor for your soul this day; perhaps the Lord will call someone that you dearly love to Himself in the future and you will need an anchor for your soul on that day. I truly believe that these verses provide us with that anchor.
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I. The Reality of Grief
The first thought that we see in these verses concerns the reality of grief. Verse 13 does not encourage us away from grief; Paul did not say that we are not supposed to grieve. He said that we do not grieve like those without hope, but we do grieve. Grief is the human emotion that comes when something or someone is lost. To grieve is to be human; we've all lost things or people that are dear to us and the emotion that comes with that loss, the emotion of grief, is natural.
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Consider Jesus, he was fully God but he was also fully man, and in his humanity he felt the human emotion of grief. John 11 tells us that Jesus lost a very dear friend named Lazarus and verse 35 tells us that "Jesus wept." Now why did Jesus weep, he knew that he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead, he knew that Lazarus' death was not the final chapter? Jesus wept because he had lost a friend, even for a moment he had lost a friend, and loss brings grief.
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It is appropriate that we grieve the loss of Joe Fair; I would say that it is not only appropriate but important because it is part of the human experience. God has made us to grieve, we are not higher than Jesus, we are not better than Jesus, and in Jesus' humanity he wept. His life shows us the reality of grief.
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II. The Basis for Hope
But there's a second thought that we see in these verses, while we do grieve we do not grieve as others who have no hope. That is what Paul said in verse 13, "don't be ignorant, don't be uninformed, about those who are asleep (which means dead)." Paul was saying, "If you do not know what happens to those that die then you will grieve and have no hope. However, if you do know what happens to those that die then you still may grieve but you'll grieve and have hope." Thus, the second thought that we see in this passage concerns the basis for hope. What is the basis for hope for those that have fallen asleep or died? Paul told us in verse 14, "we believe that Jesus died and rose again." The way that people have hope in this life and the life to come is by believing in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. When a person believes or has faith in Jesus' death and resurrection God saves them, He transfers them from a kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. This is what happened in Joe's life 10 years ago; God saved him and gave him eternal hope.
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Joe was always a moral and ethical man, he was a man that kept his word; he was also a compassionate man, I cannot imagine a better grandfather. But none of those qualities could provide him with hope for eternity, none of those deeds of character and life could save him and make him acceptable to God. What gave him hope and what made him acceptable to God was his faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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This passage's main concern is not the hope of those that have died, but the hope of those that are left behind. Paul was concerned about the people that remain, do they have hope because of Christ and do they have hope that they will see their loved ones again? The basis for hope has not changed; Joe trusted in Jesus and we must trust in Jesus if we are going to see him again. I don't think my grandfather would be pleased with me if I did not ask you, on this day, whether or not you have trusted in Jesus. Have you; do you have the hope that comes by believing that Jesus died and rose again?
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III. The Need for Comfort
Finally, these words are meant are meant to comfort us because in times like this we have a need for comfort. Thus, Paul said in verse 18, "Therefore encourage (or comfort) one another with these words." Paul was saying, "when someone is hurting and struggling with loss don't offer cliches, don't offer platitudes and meaningless words, don't tell them that God simply needed another angel in heaven...comfort them with 'these words.'" 'These words' are the words that there is a real and living hope for those for those that die. Pastor Bruce’s words were eloquent and meaningful but his words about my grandfather cannot give us ultimate comfort. In the days to come when you struggle with the thought of Joe's death and you need comfort it is entirely appropriate to think about the memories that you shared, those times that were special; but those memories cannot ultimately comfort. What will comfort you is the hope of Christ. Only ‘these words’ that point us to the death and resurrection of Jesus can comfort us in the time of our need. Only Jesus can comfort us in our need because only Jesus can save us from our sin.

Jeremy Fair is Senior Pastor of Arlington Presbyterian Church in Arlington, Texas. He can be reached by email at jeremy.fair76@gmail.com.

Joe A. Fair of Waurika, Oklahoma left this life on Tuesday May 3, 2011 after a short illness. He lived 87 years, 3 months and 20 days. Services were held on Friday May 6th at Corum Baptist Church outside Comanche, Oklahoma. Rev. Bruce Humphries, Pastor of Corum Baptist Church and Rev. Jeremy Fair, Joe’s oldest grandson and Pastor of Arlington Presbyterian Church, Arlington, Texas officiated. Burial was at Fairlawn Cemetery in Comanche with military honors.

Joe was born on January 13, 1924 to Claude and Cordie Fullerton Fair in Grant, Oklahoma. He grew up in the Lake Creek area of Delta County, Texas. He married Jean Council on October 6, 1951 in Arkansas. Joe and Jean moved to Oklahoma in 1956. In 1961, they moved to Geronimo, Oklahoma where they raised their family. In 1989, Joe built a cabin near Waurika Lake so he could fish more. Joe and Jean eventually made it their permanent home.

Joe was a simple, plainspoken man with a generous spirit who taught his children and grandchildren the importance of personal character and hard work. He was a carpenter by trade. He loved to fish, build things and work in his garden. Joe loved spending time with his family.

Joe served in the Philippine Islands during WWII with the U.S. Army. Joe was self employed as a building contractor for many years and retired in 1979 from the Carpenter shop at Fort Sill. He was a member of Corum Baptist Church.

He is survived by his wife of the home, two sisters, Marie Lee of Dallas, Texas and Geraldine Hancock of Emory, Texas. He is also survived by his four children: one daughter and son-in-law, Vanda and Jay Quarles of Lawton, three sons and two daughters-in-law, Dwight Fair of Waurika, Randy and Donna Fair of Duncan and Steve and Debbie Fair of Duncan. He is also survived by seven grandchildren and spouses, Jeremy and Kimberly Fair, Stacy and Michael Morgan, Brandon Fair, Bryan and Dawn Fair, Melissa and Jesse Neugebauer, Jason Quarles, and Brin Fair and three great grandchildren, Caedmon, Creth and Cale Fair, and many nieces and nephews. Joe is also survived by special friends, Marvin and Bonnie McConnell, Darla Foley, and his Corum Baptist Church family.

He was preceded in death by his parents, four brothers, and two sisters.

Pallbearers were his grandsons and grandsons in law: Jason Quarles, Brandon Fair, Bryan Fair, Brin Fair, Michael Morgan and Jesse Neugebauer. Honorary pallbuilders will be members of the Senior Sunday School Class of Corum Baptist Church.

Consolations can be sent to the family by emailing okgop@aol.com.

The text of the gospel message preached by Jeremy Fair at his grandfather's funeral will be posted later this week.