By Andy Rieger
A Republican candidate for lieutenant governor said Oklahoma ought to recruit business out of Texas like we recruit football players.
State Sen. Todd Lamb, R-Edmond, told Cleveland County Republicans he would be an "aggressive ambassador" for Oklahoma. Mayoral candidate Hal Ezzell was also scheduled to speak but was detained on business in Oklahoma City.
He made several references to Texas during his speech Tuesday at the Hilton Garden Inn. He said he didn't want his children to become Texans.
"We go down there and get football recruits. We need to go down there and get business," Lamb said. "We have a better story in Oklahoma."
A former Secret Service agent, Lamb worked on the staffs of former Gov. Frank Keating and former Sen. Don Nickles. He is the first Republican Senate Majority Floor Leader.
He said something is wrong in Oklahoma when all but three of the state's border counties have lower per capita income than counties right across the border.
The situation is often excused, he said, because Texas is bigger and they have more to offer. Lamb played football at Oklahoma State University and used a sports analogy to explain his frustration.
"We don't allow our coaches to make excuses but we have tolerated that with public policy since 1907," Lamb said.
He wants to see what works with entrepreneurs and recruit business to Oklahoma.
"People are leaving California. My goal is to redirect their paths from Austin and Dallas... to the great state of Oklahoma."
He said one way to lure business here is to continue reductions in the state income tax. Elimination of the estate tax was a good first step, he said.
"I think it would be a good goal to get it down to 3 percent (state income tax) to keep us on the list of businesses that consider moving to Oklahoma," he said.
After Lamb's speech, the audience talked about the potential to eliminate the maximum 5 percent property tax assessment increase.
Several guests said their ad valorem taxes were going up while local property values were going down.
