Oklahoma State Senate

For Immediate Release: October 18, 2005

Senator Glenn Coffee

Scorecard Shows Senate GOP Best for Business, Job Growth in State

* Senate Democrats get failing grade on job creation

A newly released legislative scorecard from the Research Institute for Economic Development, or RIED, shows that Republicans in the Oklahoma State Senate strongly support issues and legislation that help attract businesses and jobs to the state.

RIED evaluated legislators’ votes and positions during the 2005 legislative session on dozens of bills that affect economic growth and job creation in the state – such as tax relief, lawsuit reform, workers’ compensation reform, and small business issues.

“The 2005 RIED scores show that Senate Republicans consistently support entrepreneurship and job creation, while Senate Democrats consistently try to stifle economic growth,” stated Senate Republican Leader Glenn Coffee of Oklahoma City.

All 22 Republican senators received a “passing” grade on the RIED survey, with an average score of 88 percent for the GOP. Senate Republicans held 8 of the top 10 RIED scores for 2005. Senate Republicans had 2 perfect scores of 100 percent and 18 GOP senators scored 80 percent or better.

Meanwhile, the average Senate Democrat RIED score was a failing grade of 66 percent. In fact, 14 of 26 Senate Democrats received a failing RIED score of less than 70 percent, indicative of the widespread opposition among Senate Democrats to pro-growth, pro-jobs legislation.

“After reviewing the Senate Democrats’ RIED scores, it’s no wonder Oklahoma ranks near the bottom economically following nearly 100 years of Democrat control of the Oklahoma State Senate,” Coffee said.

A complete list of the 2005 RIED scores, as well as a list of the legislation that was evaluated, is available on RIED’s website: http://www.probizok.com