[Oklahoma City, OK, October 7, 2015] On Monday night the Ten Commandments monument was moved from the State Capitol a few blocks away to where it now resides, on private property, at the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) – an ultra-conservative think-tank with numerous alignments and ties to ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council). Since Monday, Governor Fallin has declared she will not rest until the monument is returned to the Capitol, seemingly deciding to ignore Oklahoma’s potential $1 billion budget shortfall and other economic woes facing the Sooner State.

“The actions Governor Fallin and Scott Pruitt have taken on this issue are nothing more than an effort to draw attention away from her failed economic policies,” said Oklahoma Democratic Party Chair Mark Hammons. “While the Governor and Attorney General have wasted critical funds on frivolous lawsuits, Oklahoma’s roads and bridges are decaying, almost 850 emergency teaching certificates have been issued to address teacher shortages, thousands of Oklahomans remain without access to quality healthcare, and our budget shortfall is in the hundreds of millions, with some projections indicating up to $1 billion next year. The simple fact is that Governor Fallin and her administration cannot govern and they are desperate to distract the public from her failed leadership and policies.”

Despite the initial generous donation of the monument from Broken Arrow legislator, Representative Mike Ritze, the replacement monument has not been paid for despite claims that Ritze and Fallin would make efforts to raise money for the replacement, no word from anyone on how those efforts are going. Adding insult to injury, now it looks like Oklahoma taxpayers are on the hook to pay for the $4,700 bill to move the monument ten blocks south to the OCPA.