WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.600 --> 00:00:05.040 Good morning, good morning, good morning, and welcome, welcome, welcome. 2 00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:08.880 It's time for our community connection right here on k The one you trust 3 00:00:08.919 --> 00:00:13.679 in. Our guest today is incumbent State Senator Julie Daniels. Welcome to the 4 00:00:13.720 --> 00:00:16.760 program. How are you doing today, Tom, I'm just fine and enjoying 5 00:00:16.760 --> 00:00:22.039 this coolish weather weather. Always good to be here at KWN, good running 6 00:00:22.039 --> 00:00:26.760 shoes weather. With that campaign going on and everything. Speaking of the campaign, 7 00:00:26.839 --> 00:00:32.159 a lot going on at this point in time, and one of the 8 00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:38.200 things that has come up is that, my golly, this is a race 9 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:42.679 for you. You have an opponent this time, and the landscape is maybe 10 00:00:42.719 --> 00:00:46.119 just a little bit different, but really not all that much. I guess. 11 00:00:46.439 --> 00:00:49.560 How do you see where you are and where you're going so far in 12 00:00:49.640 --> 00:00:53.159 this race? Well, in any campaign, you have a plan, and 13 00:00:53.159 --> 00:00:55.679 you work your plan, and you do that every day and then you move 14 00:00:55.759 --> 00:00:59.840 to the next twenty four hour cycle. I'm pretty much just knocking doors right 15 00:00:59.880 --> 00:01:03.240 now now, because during session you don't have as much of an opportunity to 16 00:01:03.320 --> 00:01:07.200 do that. But it's interesting yesterday, and this has happened more than once. 17 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:10.640 I'm going to the door and talking about a campaign, but finding a 18 00:01:10.680 --> 00:01:14.840 constituent with an issue, so you get out the phone and make a note. 19 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:19.599 This person says they overpaid their taxes, this person has a difficulty with 20 00:01:19.640 --> 00:01:22.879 some unemployment benefits. And I say, okay, after June eighteen, I 21 00:01:22.920 --> 00:01:25.480 will be giving you a call, Kathy, and I will my assistant and 22 00:01:25.480 --> 00:01:27.840 I we'll get working on this. So you're doing a little campaigning and a 23 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:32.599 little constituent work at the same time. But that does show that folks are 24 00:01:32.959 --> 00:01:38.040 engaged and they know that my office is responsive and we have enough experience now 25 00:01:38.120 --> 00:01:44.519 that we can fairly quickly resolve some issues. And we've built good working relationships 26 00:01:44.519 --> 00:01:47.439 with people in the building, which is what you need to do with bureaucracies. 27 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:49.560 You need to understand that they have a job to do and they're implementing 28 00:01:49.879 --> 00:01:55.079 our laws. But when you hit a roadblock somehow, maybe it's a misunderstanding, 29 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:57.280 maybe it's a mistake, maybe it's something we need to change. And 30 00:01:57.400 --> 00:02:01.079 that's certainly the approach my office takes. So it's a little bit of campaign 31 00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:05.480 and a little bit of helping constituents at the same time. That's great, 32 00:02:05.560 --> 00:02:08.479 And speaking of experience, you have plenty. Tell us a little bit about 33 00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:13.120 your experience, because there are people who are moving to Bartlesfield every day. 34 00:02:13.199 --> 00:02:15.960 Some weren't around the last time you ran. Well, exactly yesterday, I 35 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:20.800 talked to somebody who had just registered who's moved here from Colorado. I've talked 36 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:24.520 this week with people from California, somebody from Missouri who just moved downtown. 37 00:02:24.960 --> 00:02:31.960 And they're all coming here with some either close or tenuous Bartlewilt connection, but 38 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:37.199 they're coming because they wanted to leave where they were and come here because they 39 00:02:37.240 --> 00:02:44.360 see us as freer, friendlier, less regulation, more openness, and so 40 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:46.840 they're just the kinds of folks that we want to attract to Oklahoma. And 41 00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:50.520 it does tell me as an elected official that we are doing things right. 42 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:54.240 Not everything is perfect, but that by and large, our government is one 43 00:02:54.240 --> 00:03:00.120 that is responsive to the people, and protective of freedoms and encouraging of business 44 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:07.319 and growing jobs and stronger families and respecting parental rights, looking to reform education 45 00:03:07.479 --> 00:03:10.719 and make it better both the public and private and homeschool side. We're doing 46 00:03:10.759 --> 00:03:15.520 all those things, and I've had a role to play in pretty much all 47 00:03:15.560 --> 00:03:20.199 of those areas. So it is refreshing to see people who are new but 48 00:03:20.280 --> 00:03:23.080 yes, so for the folks who don't know me, I've lived in Bartlesville 49 00:03:23.080 --> 00:03:27.319 now about thirty five years. Charlie and I've been married forty six years. 50 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:31.400 He's a retired attorney with Phillips. My boys were worn and raised here, 51 00:03:31.439 --> 00:03:35.599 went to public school, went to Saint John some too. I've got a 52 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:39.439 son and daughter in law and three little grandchildren here, and Margo just turned 53 00:03:39.479 --> 00:03:43.879 one and she's starting to walk and you can't keep up with her. But 54 00:03:44.599 --> 00:03:49.000 I had all that experience with nonprofit sector. I have really good relationships with 55 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:53.639 all those organizations in town that do so much good and make Bartlesville a very 56 00:03:53.719 --> 00:03:58.280 unique place to live. Those same as kinds of attitudes exist throughout Senate District 57 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:03.199 twenty nine Washington and northern Rogers County. And then I have the eight years 58 00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:08.879 in the Senate doing a variety of things. I serve on more major committees 59 00:04:08.919 --> 00:04:13.560 than anybody else in my caucus because I asked for more work. So by 60 00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:17.120 the time you do Judiciary, Education, Finance, Health and Human Services rules, 61 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:21.600 and you had a stint both in business and energy, you have a 62 00:04:21.600 --> 00:04:26.360 lot of the issues that get you have some background on, and you have 63 00:04:26.680 --> 00:04:29.759 a lot of issues that people bring to you, wanting to improve, wanting 64 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:33.319 to run legislation, wanting you to help with reform. And I enjoy being 65 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:38.279 fully engaged in all those things and learning about new things. So I would 66 00:04:38.279 --> 00:04:43.000 have to say that I'm very well rounded in my experience there. I've been 67 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:46.360 given some leadership opportunities, and what that means to Senate District twenty nine is 68 00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:50.560 that I have maybe a larger voice at the table when we're deciding what direction 69 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:56.240 to take. And I think that's beneficial to the folks of northeastern Oklahoma, 70 00:04:56.279 --> 00:05:00.920 particularly the communities in Senate District twenty nine. For all those reasons and the 71 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:05.759 fact that I'm regularly ranked as one of the most conservative members in the building, 72 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:10.319 to the point that when someone says, if somebody says you're not a 73 00:05:10.360 --> 00:05:15.480 conservative, we all just laugh. I take that conservative philosophy and my sort 74 00:05:15.480 --> 00:05:18.920 of practical way of thinking, and I don't mind what the problem is. 75 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:21.759 Let's go talk about it, Let's learn both sides of the issue, Let's 76 00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:28.480 bring in all the perspectives, and then apply a conservative political philosophy to how 77 00:05:28.519 --> 00:05:30.959 to proceed, whether that's a bill I'm working on or an issue that we're 78 00:05:31.079 --> 00:05:34.399 taking a lot of time with, or just a bill that pops up and 79 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:38.680 you need to make a decision how to vote. One of the things that 80 00:05:38.759 --> 00:05:41.639 didn't get past in this session. But many people thought that it was a 81 00:05:41.720 --> 00:05:46.480 darn good idea because it would start small and then gradually built, and that 82 00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:51.240 was to reduce the income tax here in the state of Oklahoma. You took 83 00:05:51.240 --> 00:05:57.000 a bold step forward on that, tell us a little bit about the philosophy 84 00:05:57.040 --> 00:06:00.199 behind this, and of course there's still plenty of room for that thing to 85 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:04.600 catch fire and go. Certainly a couple of years ago we were doing some 86 00:06:04.680 --> 00:06:08.959 piecemeal things at the end of session, rather like the budget process that the 87 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:13.199 Senate decided we would fix this year by making it more transparent. We formed 88 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:16.800 a task force to look at tax reform in Oklahoma. Every state is different. 89 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:21.439 There are positive and negatives to hours, but we wanted to look at 90 00:06:21.480 --> 00:06:26.959 how we could responsibly start to reduce the income tax with the goal of getting 91 00:06:26.959 --> 00:06:30.439 to zero, not being able to say how long that might take and what 92 00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:33.879 reforms would we need to go along with that. It was a bit frustrating, 93 00:06:33.920 --> 00:06:38.600 but we gained a lot of knowledge, a lot of knowledge and In 94 00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:43.199 the end, the Caucus decided this year to repeal the state portion of the 95 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:46.560 grocery tax. That was not the direction I would have gone. I do 96 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:49.839 not want to tax your labor. I would like to not tax your labor 97 00:06:49.879 --> 00:06:54.199 at all, but tax you when you enter the marketplace, when you consume 98 00:06:54.279 --> 00:06:58.000 a service or a good, you're making a choice. Yes, some people 99 00:06:58.040 --> 00:07:00.560 will say, well, I don't have a choice to buy brories. That's 100 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:04.000 true, but how you expend the dollars that you have. You're making some 101 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:09.199 decisions. So let's leave as much money in your pocket as possible and only 102 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:13.319 tax you to provide the dollars to run the government when you make those decisions 103 00:07:13.319 --> 00:07:15.879 to enter the marketplace. That's the direction I want to go, and I 104 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:21.079 still want to go. We did the grocery tax, and so that could 105 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:26.360 affect state revenue to the tune of about two hundred and seventy million dollars a 106 00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:29.279 year. So the Senate said, we're not going to cut anymore this year 107 00:07:29.319 --> 00:07:32.720 because we want to see how that impacts revenue in the next fiscal year, 108 00:07:32.759 --> 00:07:36.639 because we do have to pay for government. You can have differences of opinion 109 00:07:36.680 --> 00:07:41.600 of how limited government should be and every time you expend more money, are 110 00:07:41.639 --> 00:07:45.839 you growing government or are you paying teachers more? Are you paying highway patrol 111 00:07:45.920 --> 00:07:48.920 more? Are those good ways to expend tax dollars? You can have that 112 00:07:49.399 --> 00:07:56.399 discussion and always come to differences of opinion. However, I did author the 113 00:07:56.519 --> 00:08:01.199 point two five percent reduction in the personal and come tax a couple of years 114 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:05.560 ago. Then that became a pro tim Speaker bill, so my name was 115 00:08:05.600 --> 00:08:09.639 not on that, and this year I agreed with the Speaker to author that 116 00:08:09.720 --> 00:08:13.600 again, but we changed it so that it didn't say it would reduce it 117 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:18.120 this year. It just had a formula for how to determine when you could 118 00:08:18.199 --> 00:08:22.800 reduce it, so we wouldn't continue to have these fights. So now the 119 00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:26.279 difference of opinion is what formula is the best formula? And when you did 120 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:31.560 serve during the budget shortfall of twenty seventeen twenty eighteen, which were my first 121 00:08:31.560 --> 00:08:35.120 two years in office, there's a long memory of how difficult that was. 122 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:39.799 So there's still people who are a little bit gun shy about reducing taxes too 123 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:45.159 quickly and then finding that you have to go through and cut all the agencies. 124 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:48.679 So yes, I'm still very much in favor of that. I believe 125 00:08:48.679 --> 00:08:52.039 we are closer to finding that formula. It would be a conservative one, 126 00:08:52.600 --> 00:08:54.879 but I've worked with several other people and we have several ideas. Now we 127 00:08:56.000 --> 00:09:00.840 just need to educate our caucus and get people in there who can say this 128 00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:05.440 isn't dangerous. If certain things don't happen, the tax won't drop, but 129 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:09.080 will make sure that when it does drop, you can absorb that in terms 130 00:09:09.080 --> 00:09:11.519 of revenue, and eventually you're going to grow the economy. You're going to 131 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:16.519 have more people paying taxes, more revenue, so it balances out in the 132 00:09:16.600 --> 00:09:18.919 end. So that's a long answer to your question, but is certainly one 133 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:22.519 of my goals in the next four years is to get to that point where 134 00:09:22.519 --> 00:09:28.559 we have that formula in place and then it happens automatically when certain conditions are 135 00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:33.159 present. We're talking with State Senator Julie Daniels here on our community connection. 136 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:39.720 When it comes to education. There are some lawmakers who are very pro public 137 00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:45.399 education, there are some that are very pro homeschool, and there are some 138 00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:50.000 that are all above. Where do you come down on the education issue? 139 00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:54.960 I am definitely all of the above. Each individual child benefits from a certain 140 00:09:54.799 --> 00:10:00.720 way of delivering education. It's the parents who should make that decision, and 141 00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:05.039 they shouldn't be hamstrung by their pocketbook or the zip code that they live in. 142 00:10:05.480 --> 00:10:07.799 This is not to take away from what the public schools overall do. 143 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:13.519 Some districts are stronger than others, Some schools are stronger than other some teachers 144 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:16.000 are stronger than other. But that's also true in the private education section, 145 00:10:16.440 --> 00:10:20.879 and certainly in homeschooling. That's up to the parent to provide the quality and 146 00:10:20.919 --> 00:10:26.039 the kind of instruction they think benefits their child. So to me, all 147 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:31.399 benefit from the variety of choices. It helps you to make improvements. It's 148 00:10:31.399 --> 00:10:35.799 the same as in the private sector. The more choices you have, the 149 00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:39.759 harder every single entity works to provide a product that more people will want to 150 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:45.000 use, and that's certainly what we've seen in the school choice movement. In 151 00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:48.240 Oklahoma, we have the greatest protections for homeschooling of any state in the nation, 152 00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:52.480 and we do not want to ever erode those. We have done a 153 00:10:52.519 --> 00:10:58.919 great job in introducing a opportunity to scholarship tax credit donate money. The money 154 00:10:58.919 --> 00:11:03.799 goes to scholarships for kids at different private schools. We have our Lindsay Nicole 155 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:09.120 Henry Special Needs Scholarship for certain populations of children. I was successful this year 156 00:11:09.159 --> 00:11:16.480 in allowing homeless families to benefit from that scholarship because homeless families don't tend to 157 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:22.039 file income taxes and therefore get a credit to use at the school of their 158 00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:24.720 choice, which is the program we passed last year. So we've expanded Lindsay 159 00:11:24.759 --> 00:11:30.720 Nicole Henry to say homeless parents can benefit from this scholarship. And we have 160 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:35.960 one particular school in Oklahoma that does nothing but cater to homeless families and their 161 00:11:37.080 --> 00:11:41.399 children. So it's a variety of things. I believe that our Education Chairman 162 00:11:41.559 --> 00:11:48.799 Adam Kew is a great reformer and he wants to do nothing to punish any 163 00:11:48.840 --> 00:11:52.679 school or school district for an outcome. He wants to measure the outcomes and 164 00:11:52.720 --> 00:11:58.440 then let's build a program in Oklahoma that directs resources to those schools that will 165 00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:05.279 help them prove let's reward improvement. Let's not punish a bad score, Let's 166 00:12:05.320 --> 00:12:09.080 see what can we do to get it up. And that's a new way 167 00:12:09.120 --> 00:12:13.320 of thinking. I think I'm really pleased with that, and having been on 168 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:16.159 the Education Committee, now for two years, I'm seeing the benefit of his 169 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:20.000 way of thinking. I'm happy to join him in that effort over these next 170 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:24.399 four years. So it's the most critical thing that we do. I know 171 00:12:24.759 --> 00:12:28.919 we need to protect freedoms first of foremost, we need to protect public safety, 172 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:33.840 but we need to deliver on education. And when we do that, 173 00:12:35.559 --> 00:12:39.279 it makes all other aspects of our society better. One other thing we did 174 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:43.399 in education this year we have the Oklahoma Promise Scholarship. You know, if 175 00:12:43.399 --> 00:12:48.159 you maintain certain grades, we will pay your tuition. We had never allowed 176 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:50.759 that to be applied to career tech, but we know now that we need 177 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:54.600 more kids to go into the trades, and we know that you need a 178 00:12:54.600 --> 00:12:58.480 good liberal arts education. But if you know you want to go this direction 179 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:01.519 and you're not going to be on the college tract for now, why shouldn't 180 00:13:01.559 --> 00:13:07.720 you benefit from that state program if you choose a technology education. And so 181 00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:09.840 we've changed that. We have a backlog of kids wanting to go to career 182 00:13:09.879 --> 00:13:15.360 tech. We've put some money into trying to decrease that backlog. So all 183 00:13:15.399 --> 00:13:18.600 of the above is definitely where I am Senator to Daniels, this is the 184 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:22.879 point where I say it's time to get on the soapbox and tell us what 185 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:26.240 you want everybody to hear. Sure, we've talked about taxes and education. 186 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:31.399 I'm firmly committed to reducing government regulation. I've done a lot of work in 187 00:13:31.399 --> 00:13:35.120 that area. This has to do with the administrative rules that have the effect 188 00:13:35.240 --> 00:13:39.639 of laws, but they weren't passed by the legislature, but we're the ones 189 00:13:39.639 --> 00:13:43.080 who oversee them and determine whether or not they can go into effect. Over 190 00:13:43.080 --> 00:13:45.960 the years of work with the Governor's office and several of my colleagues, and 191 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:50.759 we cleaned up that particular statute to give more oversight to the legislature. What 192 00:13:50.759 --> 00:13:54.240 we need to do now is to make sure we're fully engaged in that. 193 00:13:54.679 --> 00:13:58.120 So I will continue to work on that one. I definitely want to do 194 00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:05.159 more just checking my little protect the reforms the Republicans put in place fifteen or 195 00:14:05.159 --> 00:14:09.559 twenty years ago. With term limits, there's not as much institutional knowledge in 196 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:13.039 the building about the reforms. And this had to do with lawsuit reform, 197 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:18.399 which has been eroded by our Supreme Court, workers' compensation reform, which they 198 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:24.000 chip away at every session, and pension reform, which is very misunderstood, 199 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:28.480 but critically important to the retirees in these different pension groups, but also to 200 00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:33.080 the fiscal health of the state as it is seen from outside. So all 201 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:37.600 those things are kind of not headline making, but they're very important. I'm 202 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:39.840 going to continue to work on those. So let me wrap up by saying 203 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:45.039 I would really appreciate your vote on April eighteen. It is a joy to 204 00:14:45.159 --> 00:14:48.720 serve you. I believe my office serves you well. I'm engaged on all 205 00:14:48.759 --> 00:14:52.879 the issues. I spend a lot of hours in the building, which I 206 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:56.919 consider a large office building, with lots of employees with different perspectives. They're 207 00:14:56.960 --> 00:15:01.159 the elected, they're the bureaucrats, they're the lobbyists. They all work together 208 00:15:01.240 --> 00:15:05.919 to learn about the issues, and from them I glean the knowledge I need 209 00:15:05.960 --> 00:15:11.639 to either advance something or vote for or against something. And it's an absolute 210 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:15.240 privilege to get to do that on your behalf. So on June the eighteenth, 211 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:18.000 please vote for me. Let me do my last four year term as 212 00:15:18.039 --> 00:15:20.879 your senator. And if you're not going to be in town on the eighteenth, 213 00:15:20.919 --> 00:15:24.960 you can vote Thursday and Friday from eight to six at the election board 214 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:28.200 at City Hall or if you're in no wa to go to the no Wata 215 00:15:28.279 --> 00:15:33.279 County Courthouse or the Rogers County Courthouse and then on Saturday from eight to two. 216 00:15:33.879 --> 00:15:37.279 But otherwise I will see you at the polls on election day. If 217 00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:39.399 you want to get in touch with me nine one eight three three one seven 218 00:15:39.480 --> 00:15:46.159 two sixty seven, my website is danielsokasenate dot com. You can communicate with 219 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:50.480 me there or Senator Julie Daniels Facebook. You can message me there and I 220 00:15:50.519 --> 00:15:54.200 will try my darness here in the last few days of the campaign to be 221 00:15:54.279 --> 00:15:58.879 back in touch with you. And thank you, Thank you Tom, and 222 00:15:58.399 --> 00:16:03.159 thank you all folks in Senate District twenty nine for allowing me to represent you 223 00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:07.039 in the state Senate. Thank you for being with his Senator Julie Daniels on 224 00:16:07.159 --> 00:16:07.360 our community connection.