Oklahoma Becoming More Business Friendly

As efforts continue on his economic development plan called EDGE, Gov. Brad Henry may be heartened to know that at least one group gives the Legislature better marks for its support of economic growth and jobs.

The Research Institute for Economic Development (RIED), based in Edmond, says our Legislature has significantly increased its degree of support for business, jobs and economic growth.

RIED has been tracking legislators' efforts in this regard for the past six years. During that time, the organization headed by business leaders has parsed more than 81,000 votes. Legislators gain points by voting for issues that promote job growth and economic development, and lose points when they back bills that are considered harmful to business or vote for bills that hurt jobs and business growth.

RIED says that since 1999, the Senate's economic growth "advocacy rating" has grown to 56 percent from 45 percent. In the House, it has grown to 71 percent from 31 percent. What it means, says organization president Vince Robison, is that the Legislature as a whole is starting to respond more positively to the needs of jobs and economic growth than it did several years ago.

The EDGE initiative, which stands for Economic Development Generating Excellence, is headed by officials within higher education and the state Commerce Department. Twenty-three panels have been working more than three months to generate a blueprint for economic development. The goal is to have the blueprint in place by December so any legislative proposals can be written by the time the Legislature convenes two months later.

One noteworthy development in Oklahoma's state business climate in the past couple years is passage of Right-to-Work (RTW) legislature, which was attempted three times before and failed. Oklahoma is the first state in a very long time to join the ranks of RTW states.

You can find the RIED website here.

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