Derek Darr sat down with Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt as part of his 77 Counties Tour.
Stitt began by sharing where the idea to visit all 77 counties came from, and the purpose behind it:
“Back in 2018, when I was running for governor, I went to all 77 counties and just loved it. Feels like I met all four million Oklahomans. And I thought it’d be really cool [as] my last year, to go back around and kind of give an update of what all we’ve accomplished over the last eight years. And it’s just been great. So [the] purpose is to get back around and talk about some of our wins [and] accomplishments.”
Stitt shared some of his favorite accomplishments he has achieved during his term:
“We have the largest savings account we’ve ever had. So it’s $3.7 billion with a B that I’m handing over to the next governor. At the same time, we’ve given our wonderful school teachers a pay raise three times. Because as I traveled around the country, I thought it was weird that we couldn’t pay our teachers what other states did…I’ve put more money in public education than any other governor before me. I’ve cut taxes by $2 billion. I got the income tax down a half a point. And then, more importantly, I put us on a path to zero.”
Stitt expanded on his contributions for Oklahoma education:
We instituted school choice, more charter schools. Now, every family has the opportunity to transfer to the public school of their choice, whether it’s a better ag program or a better STEM program, or maybe your son or daughter is just not thriving at one school; they can go to another school. That was never the case before me. [We] also have refundable tax credits. You can go to a Christian school, a private school, a STEM school. We just want to put parents in charge and create competition in the education system. So those are some of the wins I talk about. But more than anything, Oklahoma feels better about itself. Wage growth is increasing.
The economy is booming. We’re top 10 in people moving to our state for the first time ever, getting people from all over the country.”
Governor Stitt shared his opinion on the City of Enid and his next destinations on his tour:
“I’ve come to Enid a bunch of times. I love Enid. You got a lot of good friends over here. Enid is one of these communities across our state that’s really special. And people ask me all the time: ‘Where are some really cool spots around the state?’ And I always tell them that Enid is very special. The community, the people, it’s just a really cool city. And so, I’m very, very fond of Enid. But I love getting around. Last week, I was in Cheyenne, Oklahoma; Hinton, Oklahoma; Elk City, Oklahoma; and Cordell. And I’ve been all over; [I] went down to Hollis the week before, and Altus, and Alton. On Friday, I’m going to be in the southeast part of the state, down in Hugo, and Idabel, and Antlers. And so, I just love getting out to Oklahoma and getting a chance to meet everybody.”
