For Immediate Release
March 20, 2013
Contact: Trav Robertson

 SPEAKER SHANNON CONDEMNS CHILDREN?

Disabled Children Feel Effects of Republicans’ Poor Fiscal Policy

Oklahoma City– The Northern and Southern Oklahoma Resource Centers in Enid and Pauls Valley respectively will be closing due to a lack of funding from the State of Oklahoma. These centers provide a home to children that are too mentally or physically challenged to care for themselves. The long-range effects of Speaker T.W. Shannon and Governor Mary Fallin’s “fuzzy math” of lowering taxes without a plan to provide supplemental income for essential services has already begun to impact the lives of those who are less fortunate.

House Republicans voted for Speaker Shannon’s bill to cut $120 million from state revenue in an effort to put back approximately $6.33 per month in the average taxpayer’s pocket.

“Money goes a lot further when it is pooled together,” said Chairman Wallace Collins. “Speaker Shannon is sending a message to these kids, who have no place else to go, that they are not worth the investment.”

House Bill 2053 would have allowed the Department of Human Services to develop an action plan for the state-administered resource centers, which have approximately 200 employees each, but Speaker Shannon essentially killed this piece of legislation by not allowing it to be heard on the house floor.

“How can government become more efficient if you do not give it the chance?” asked Chairman Collins.

The deadline for bills passing the house of origin was March 14, 2013.

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