Gov. Stitt Puts Focus On Education, Business Growth In State Of The State Address

The 2023 legislative session kicked off on Monday with a joint session of the House and Senate for Governor Kevin Stitt’s State of the State tackle.

It is Governor Stitt’s first State of the State Address of his second time period and he spent a lot of Monday’s speech highlighting the state’s economic system and adjustments deliberate for the schooling system.

“Over the last four years, we have made changes together in education: removing zip code barriers, modernizing our funding formula, and raising teacher pay. But our efforts can’t stop there. Parents spoke loud and clear at the ballot box last November in support of our vision to create more options for kids. We know not every student learns the same way. Every child deserves a quality education that fits their unique needs, regardless of economic status, or background. Let’s fund students, not systems. Let’s create more schools, not fewer schools.

In my executive budget, I am proposing the following initiatives: Education Savings Accounts. Performance-based pay raises for teachers, The Innovation School Fund to help start more schools like the Aviation Academy in Norman. The most expansive reading initiative in the nation to get students reading at grade level.

Expanding concurrent enrollment so that high schoolers can more easily earn college credits. These strategic initiatives will bring Oklahoma’s education system out of the bottom and into the Top Ten.”

Stitt additionally mentioned that he needs to proceed to make Oklahoma the “most business-friendly state in the nation.”

“Since 2019, over 23,000 new jobs have been created and today, Oklahoma now has the third fastest-growing economy in the nation. Companies from all over the country – and the world – are moving to our state to build and expand. Google’s second-largest data center in the world is right here in Oklahoma – USA Rare Earth, the nation’s first critical mineral-to-magnet manufacturing facility, is right here in Oklahoma – American Airlines, Dell, Amazon, Boeing

These companies could be located anywhere in the world, but they choose to be right here in Oklahoma. This year, we must capitalize on the progress we’ve made. That means continuing to focus on key areas: energy, infrastructure, workforce development, and tax policy. Let’s continue to diversify our energy grid and embrace our “More of Everything” approach. We are proud that Oklahoma ranks fifth in the nation for natural gas production, and sixth for oil production. And we’re also ranked 10th in the nation for renewables.

My administration will continue to lead with efforts like becoming the nation’s Hydrogen Hub. Oklahoma’s affordable and reliable grid is the envy of the world and an undeniable competitive advantage. Let’s continue to invest in our infrastructure, From roads and bridges to rails and runways to broadband.”

Stitt highlighted the formation of the Oklahoma Broadband Office which goals to ship high-speed web entry to 95% of the state by 2028. He additionally referred to as on state universities to associate with corporations to coach the workforce of tomorrow. During the tackle, Stitt challenged “OU and OSU to grow and deliver a quality education to 40,000 students by 2030,” in hopes of assembly the workforce wants of varied Oklahoma fields, together with nursing, aerospace, and instructing. Stitt additionally mentioned he wished universities to have “less DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) officers and more career placement counselors.

Stitt renewed his call for the Oklahoma legislature to eliminate the state grocery tax and reduce the personal income tax rate to 3.99%.

“These cuts will save every household in Oklahoma tons of of {dollars} every year. And it should proceed to make Oklahoma the most effective states to reside, work, and lift your loved ones,” said Stitt.

Stitt’s third point in his address was to focus on families and “defending Oklahomans.” He highlighted a need for more fatherhood programs in local communities and claimed that the United States is a world leader in fatherless families. Stitt then shifted his comments toward gender reassignment surgery for minors in the state. The Governor called on the legislature to send a bill to his desk banning such procedures.

“We should defend our most susceptible – our youngsters. After all minors can’t vote, can’t buy alcohol, can’t buy cigarettes. We shouldn’t permit a minor to get everlasting gender-altering surgical procedure in Oklahoma. That’s why I’m calling on the Legislature to ship me a invoice that bans all gender transition surgical procedures and hormone therapies on minors within the state! As governor, I’ll by no means shrink back from calling out proper from incorrect.

I can’t be intimidated by partisan curiosity teams or make selections based mostly on groupthink. I’ll proceed my accountability to guide, not comply with.”

Stitt closed by restating his purpose to make Oklahoma a Top 10 State.