Awards given for Lawmaker of the Year and Taxpayer Advocate

(Oklahoma City, OK) Oklahomans for Responsible Government is proud to announce its selection of Lawmaker of the Year for the 2009 legislative session.

Rep. Jason Murphey (R-Guthrie) is the recipient as the primary author in the House of two very important pieces of OFRG’s policy agenda. Senate Joint Resolution 12 puts to a vote of the people whether statewide elected officials should be limited to just two terms in office. Senate Bill 800 is an important reform to the initiative petition process that requires legal challenges to the wording of citizen initiatives to happen before signatures are collected.

“Getting a vote on term limits has been a very important part of our agenda for the past two sessions and we’re very happy that the people of Oklahoma will have a chance to do that in 2010,” said Brian Downs, OFRG’s Executive Director. “And making it easier for average citizens to petition their government is another victory worth celebrating.”

Told of his award, Rep. Murphey said, “"It has been a privilege to work with OFRG in advancing these reforms and I look forward to working with them for even more reforms in the future."

OFRG is also announcing the creation of a new Taxpayer Advocate Award. It will be given periodically to an individual or group that has made a mark in protecting tax dollars. Rep. Leslie Osborn (R-Tuttle) gets the inaugural Taxpayer Advocate Award for her work in writing House Joint Resolution 1014 and getting it passed so it will be on the ballot in 2010. It asks voters whether a calculation for state spending should be used based on what other states are spending.


“Representative Osborn should be applauded for taking this step to protect the state coffers from ideas like the proposed HOPE Initiative that would take the ability to allocate money out of the hands of the legislature,” said Downs. “Forcing Oklahoma to spend money based on what other states are spending goes against the principle of representative government.”


Osborn responded, “I am honored to be given the first taxpayer advocate award from OFRG. If I could pick one issue to focus my legislative career on it would be fiscal responsibility. The potential passage of the Hope Petition, now known as State Question 744 on the 2010 ballot, would devastate our state economy in a time already economically challenging. My intent is to make sure State Question 744 is defeated, and that no other such measure can be enacted.”