"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
Posted on Monday, August 4, 2008
by Mark Beutler
filed under