"I am glad we were finally able to come up with compromise legislation that will provide a COLA for our retired state employees. As chairman of the Retirement committee, I understand the need for us to do more to help those who need it the most. Our retirees are dedicated public servants and we have a responsibility to do what we can to help them. OPEA was our partner in making these important benefits become a reality. We look forward to working with OPEA in the future to enhance the benefits of our retirees."--Senator John Sparks
"Without OPEA's efforts, I don't believe we could have protected the state employee benefit allowance this year. The budget situation creates an increase in efforts to cut benefits but OPEA held the line on this important issue as well as putting up a great fight for a long-term compensation program. If you are a state employee and not supporting this organization, you should be."--Representative Danny Morgan
"OPEA continues to be a very effective organization fighting for state employees at the Capitol. This year OPEA pressured legislators on a pay raise, full funding for state agencies, and fighting to preserve the benefit allowance. When the legislature balked on a pay raise, OPEA sent a strong message with their Red Shirt rally that state employees will vote against those who do not treat them fairly. OPEA is a strong organization at the Capitol ensuring state employees are treated fairly and have an opportunity to protect their jobs."--Senator Richard Lerblance
"OPEA has worked with me for several years in advocating for state employees. I respect their integrity, honesty, and energy in making sure that legislators understand the needs of state employees. I am proud to work with them when asked and would encourage all state employees to unify behind this organization."--Representative Gus Blackwell
"I appreciated the opportunity to work with OPEA on what we were able to accomplish this session. While it was not in my opinion enough, it was clear under the current budget environment that it was the best we could possibly do. I pledge to work with the Association to continue the fight in the next legislative session."--Representative Mike Jackson
"Thanks to OPEA, I have had the opportunity to visit with many state employees from my district. This prepared me to fight for your pay raise and many of your other issues. I am not pleased that with the economic downturn we were unable to fund a state employee pay raise this year, but you can count on me to continue to fight for a decent standard of living for all state employees."--Representative Lisa Billy
"OPEA members should be proud of the Association's insight into the future of state government. Thanks to a task force they requested last year, the state of Oklahoma is now in a better position to understand the compensation needs of state employees. OPEA has worked tirelessly to again address the turnover rate that is crippling state government. There are many organizations that work for better government, but none works as hard as the Oklahoma Public Employees Association."--Representative John Carey
"The Oklahoma Public Employees Association took the lead to identify needed changes to several bills that would have unclassified state employees. With OPEA's help we were able to amend or stop most of these efforts. OPEA is a great watchdog in protecting state employees."--Representative Mike Brown