American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2015 - 160

In terms of the 2016 budget, Marlatt
reported the state actually had more
money coming in than ever, but the apportionment diversions created a shortfall.
Apportionment limits legislators' ability
to appropriate dollars to satisfy current
and future needs, he argued, adding the
2016 session was likely to see an attempt
to reduce apportionments.
The next session also may see lawmakers study how agencies' revolving
funds are used, Marlatt continued. "Those
revolving funds are there every year for
a reason," he said. "A lot of times it is a
fee people pay for access to government
in that particular area."
If those revolving funds are excessively
big, he said that could indicate the fees
were too high and were serving as another
tax.
Dunnington added that the steps taken
to balance the 2016 budget-including
sweeping from revolving funds or onetime monies, and tapping the rainy day
fund-likely would be unavailable any
time soon.
"That is not an effective way to capture
the monies needed to pay for core government services," Dunnington held. "One
of the biggest issues in the 2016 budget
was the $72 million we had to take out
of the county roads and bridges fund.
That is something that affects many of
you who have equipment on rural roads."
While legislators did approve SB 809,
which clarified the Oklahoma Corporation
Commission-not local governments-was
in charge of regulating oil and gas activities, Marlatt said a companion bill he
sponsored, SB 470, failed to advance in
the House. He said his bill stated that if a
community blocked mineral development

Pat McFerron, senior political consultant
and lobbyist for CMA Strategies, tells
the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum
Association that Republicans are likely
to expand their political domination in
the state by winning more lower-level
political offices following their 2014
sweep of state-level positions.

Participants at the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association's Oil Field Services
fund-raising auction appraise one of the items up for bid during the event on June 6, part
of OIPA's annual meeting. The auction of donated services and items is the association's
largest single fund-raising event, with the revenues going to OIPA's political and advocacy
efforts.

it constituted a taking, and mineral owners
must be reimbursed. He added that he
expected to reintroduce it in 2016.
"It is much like taking somebody's
property through eminent domain to build
a road," Marlatt compared. "That bill
would put a lot of teeth into SB 809's
language. I hope we get it out of the
House next time."

Oklahoma Politics
In his look at Oklahoma's political
landscape, CMA Strategies' McFerron
predicted it was probable that Republicans
would expand their political domination,
taking over an increasing number of lower-level political offices following their
2014 sweep of state-level positions. He
said the state's urban areas were likely
to become more Democratic while rural
populations were increasingly shifting to
the Republican camp.
Oklahoma voters are conflicted when
it comes to taxation, McFerron warned.
He cited a survey that showed 44 percent
of the state's Republicans who earn more
than $100,000 a year thought taxes were
too high, yet this same group was opposed
to eliminating the state income tax. He
pointed out those in that salary range
were more likely to write checks for political campaigns than those with smaller
paychecks. Although tax sensitivity remains
at an historic low, McFerron said state
politicians maight be hindered in their
fund-raising efforts if they raised general
taxes to eliminate budget shortfalls.
McFerron said that political conundrum
became clearer when it came to education.
He reported 74 percent of Oklahomans

160 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

surveyed believed classrooms needed
more funds, including 59 percent of Republicans.
McFerron said the state's seismic issue
revolved more around the Internet than
politics. He said about a third of Oklahoma
residents said they never had felt an
earthquake, a third felt one or two, and a
third claimed to have felt three or more.
"This is a messaging issue," McFerron
said. "Statistically, the strongest correlation
for those claiming to have felt an earthquake is not where they live, it is whether
they are on Facebook. The more often
you are on Facebook, the more likely
you are to say you felt an earthquake."
When asked what caused seismic events,
he said 29 percent of all respondents saw
them as natural events, 37 percent cited
drilling, and the remainder either were
not concerned or wanted more information.
Among those who say they receive information principally from the Internet, 44
percent blame drilling; the same number
comes from those who point to television
as their major information source.
"We had sensational news stories on
local television, and we also had the Internet issue," McFerron said. "When I
first looked at this, there was a strong
correlation between opinions on global
warming and whether we should stop
drilling because of earthquakes. While
that relationship still is there, it is no
longer as strongly tied as it was."
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