American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2015 - 159

ConventionCoverage: Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association
the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance.
"You would be hard-pressed to find any
industry in America today that is more
in the lap of the federal government than
the oil and gas industry."
TransCanada's Keystone XL Pipeline
has dominated headlines and industry
conversation for years, but, Watts said, it
does nothing for domestic producers. Instead, it would provide temporary construction jobs and allow Canadian oper-

ators to export their oil into the U.S.
market.
What does matter to the domestic industry is exporting crude oil, he said.
Most Washington legislators continue to
discount the idea, Watts held, but he
pointed out the chief political fear-that
allowing exports would increase gasoline
prices-was unfounded. He said pump
prices near his northern Virginia home
had climbed more than $0.50 a gallon

despite declining domestic production.
"That blows that theory out of the
water to say that if we export oil, the
price at the pump is going up. We are
not exporting, prices already are going
up, and we are losing jobs in the meantime," Watts said. "The facts go on and
on. Good leaders honor their commitments,
but they are willing to change their minds
when it is the right thing to do."
r

State Budget Addresses Infrastructure
LAS COLINAS, TX.-When working
on the 2016 Oklahoma budget, state legislators focused on supporting business
development, including infrastructure improvements, relates state Senator Bryce
Marlatt.
Participating in a legislative panel at
the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum
Association's annual convention, the Republican from Woodward joined Representative Jason Dunnington, D-Oklahoma
City, in assessing the 2015 session.
OIPA's Vice President of Legislative
Affairs James Roller moderated the session.
In a presentation on the state's political
landscape, Pat McFerron, senior political
consultant and lobbyist for CMA Strategies, offered predictions on Oklahoma's
future Republican/Democratic balance
and discussed how a person's perception
regarding seismic events was connected
to his Facebook status.
From 1984 to 2004, Oklahoma failed
to increase spending on roads and bridges,
and that shortsightedness today is hurting
the state, especially in its southeastern
counties, Marlatt said.
"Look at how much costs increased
over that time," he urged. "Our roads got
to the condition they are in now because
we were not willing to invest. We have a
good, eight-year plan in place now. This
is one of the core services for the state. If
we can't move our products from point
A to point B, that production doesn't do
us any good."
The state also has failed to adequately
fund education, Dunnington contended,
calling it a critical shortcoming, considering how much Oklahoma's oil and gas
industry needs trained workers. "Growing
companies and companies relocating to
Oklahoma need employees. If we continue
to defund education, we are not going to

have the roster of talent they need," he
cautioned.
Oklahoma has failed to increase education funding for eight straight years,
Dunnington pointed out, during which
elementary and secondary school enrollments increased by nearly 50,000 students.
The state is failing to retain its teachers,
and when the 2015-16 school year starts,
he predicted it would be short 1,600
teachers.
"I see it as a linkage issue with businesses," Dunnington said. "If we are
going to continue to have the opportunity
to grow business, we need the young
talent that comes through strong schools,
both at the secondary level and through
colleges and universities. Unfortunately,
in this year's budget, the highest single
per dollar cut of any agency was to higher
education."
That $24 million reduction signals
that education is not a priority in Oklahoma, Dunnington charged, threatening

the next generation of scientists, engineers
and workers.

2016 Budget
Although public attention during the
2015 session focused on a perceived $611
million budget shortfall, Marlatt said that
as legislators began the budgeting process,
they first had to eliminate the influence
the practice of apportionment had on the
perceived funding gap.
Over the years, he described, Oklahoma
legislators have written bills to fund projects or agencies so that they receive
money outside of the regular budgetary
process. Often those dollars never go
through the appropriation process. As an
example, Marlatt said the law might mandate an agency receive 5 percent of the
state motor vehicle tax or the prior year's
apportionment, whichever was larger.
Thus, he noted, the agency's funding
never could decrease, not matter how
much it actually needed.

State Representative Jason Dunnington (left) listens as state Senator Bryce Marlatt
answers a question posed during a legislative panel at the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association's annual convention.

JULY 2015 159

American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2015