Weston: Call for Special Session Shows Responsible Leadership
Call for Special Session Shows Responsible Leadership
OKGOP Responds to Attacks from Democrats
For Immediate Release: July 19, 2013
(Oklahoma City)–As a result of recent judicial decisions concerning GOP-passed tort reform, Gov. Mary Fallin and leaders in the legislature have considered calling a special session to re-address a reform bill recently struck down by the OK Supreme Court.
Oklahoma Democrats have criticized the move as a waste of taxpayer dollars, and in one extreme comment by Rep. Mike Shelton, it was suggested that the legislature instead take up implementation of Obamacare in a special session: “If we aren’t coming back to figure out how to implement the Affordable Care Act in the state of Oklahoma and ensure that our constituents have access to better health care, there is nothing else that can’t wait until February.”
Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman Dave Weston responded, “Calling for a special session to implement Obamacare while Attorney General Scott Pruitt leads the charge against these unprecedented and unconstitutional mandates upon hard-working Oklahomans is an outrage.”
“Rep. Shelton’s suggestion that implementing Obamacare is the issue that ‘can’t wait’ is laughable as he attempts to attack our elected officials for a special session. If Shelton’s and his fellow Democrat’s true concern were taxpayers’ hard-earned money, they would not be trying to force Oklahomans into a program that on average is raising the cost of health insurance by 24%, with no tangible benefit. That Oklahoma Democrat leaders, like Rep. Shelton – who have previously shied away from their party’s left-wing ideas – are now embracing them and trying to force them on Oklahoma is further proof that the Oklahoma Democratic Party has left the values of their constituents behind.”
Chairman Weston continued, “The necessary tort reform measures that were overturned through a technicality are a vital reform to keep Oklahoma on the right track, to keep businesses in Oklahoma, and to continue Oklahoma’s excellent economy in comparison with the stagnate economy of the Obama administration’s failed policies.”
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