Shall we shuffle the deck chairs while the ship is sinking or do you want a raft?

from V Smoothe

Last night, the Oklahoma House of Representatives voted down the revenue proposals that leadership announced yesterday afternoon.

That means we are back to the drawing board and calling on you to keep doing one or all of these things!

  1. Call legislative leadership to demand a vote on restoring the gross production tax
  2. Join us Thursday at the Capitol OR give someone who is going to the Capitol your letters to House Speaker McCall and Senate President Pro Tem Schulz

Call legislators!

A LARGE majority of legislators understand that restoring the gross production tax on oil and gas drilling is the key to a budget agreement that will avert catastrophic cuts — but House Speaker Charles McCall and Senate President Pro Tem Mike Schulz are refusing to allow a vote to restore the gross production tax. Our advocates at the Capitol are hearing this same song in almost every office they visit right now.  Our Capitol team needs you to back them up with calls to the leaders who are blocking this vote!

Beyond your continued calls to your own two state legislators (found here), please #Call McCall and #Shout 2 Schulz!

#CallMcCall: (405) 557-7412 “Hello, Oklahoma is in a crisis and I am calling to insist that Speaker McCall allow a vote to restore the gross production tax to 7% for ALL oil and gas drilling. “

#Shout2Schulz!: (405) 521-5612 “Hello, Oklahoma is in a crisis and I am calling to insist that President Pro Tem Schulz allow a vote to restore the gross production tax to 7% for ALL oil and gas drilling. “

For more information and talking points on this issue, click here.

Join us Thursday at the Capitol!

The expression “shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic” has come to mean frivolous activity in the face of an impending disaster. Are you noticing that some of our leadership seems to be similarly oblivious? Let’s NOT let them ignore the crisis one more year.  Join us in drawing attention to the absurdity of planning to pass another horrible budget when there are options to SAVE OUR STATE!

Our advocacy team will be there to welcome you at the 4th floor rotunda of your state Capitol beginning at 9:30AM, Thursday, May 18th.  We’ll look like Titanic passengers, so we’ll be hard to miss!  Updates will be posted throughout the day in the Facebook event and in the TOK Slack so if you have any questions post them there.

Attendees are encouraged to do the following:

1. Know we need you even if you can only come for a moment.
2. Feel free to dress as an oblivious passenger of the Titanic who kept on partying as the ship was sinking, or come as you are.
3. Bring a couple of brief letters addressed to the legislative leaders who MUST decide to hear our request to restore the 7 percent gross production tax on ALL oil and gas drilling. You can find them here: Template letter to McCall. Template letter to Schulz.
4. Gather letters from your friends to bring with you. We will be delivering these letters one at a time, so more letters is better!
5. If you can only be there for a little while, come early so we have a big group at the start in the 4th floor rotunda at 9:30am.
6. If you are coming later than 9:30am, check this Facebook event or TOK Slack to see if we are in need of something or have moved to a specific gathering place other than the 4th floor rotunda.
7. If you have questions consider asking the group instead of one person so we can collaborate successfully.

Give someone who is going to the Capitol a letter!

THIS is how we get enough revenue to get out of this mess. We’ve been at it all session and now is the time to band together and PUSH!  Keep those contacts coming!  Keep checking in with the team and check out this online advocacy alerts for updates.  Know that you are essential to our success and everyone on this team appreciates your efforts!