Official Website of Senator Jay Paul Gumm

State Sen. Jay Paul Gumm and State Rep. John Carey were guest speakers at a monthly meeting of the Bryan County Federation of Democratic Women’s Club held at Sherrer’s/Fideaux’s restaurant Tuesday.

After prayer, the pledge of allegiance and introduction of guests, Carey was the first to speak.

“I brought my family with me because I was afraid nobody would clap,” Carey said, jokingly. On a more serious note, he said that knowing the people around him are like family helps him with his job.

Carey thanked his family and other people for their support, and said people’s kind words and letters help him.

He also mentioned U.S. Congressman Dan Boren’s new Durant office.

Carey briefly discussed what the legislation accomplished this session, including roads and education.

“It is nice to have a governor on the second floor who believes in what we believe in,” he said.

Next, Gumm addressed the group.

“It was a different year, our first year in the minority,” he said.

Gumm discussed how Republicans would vote one way on a legislation and Democrats would vote another way.

He discussed Nick’s Law, which would require health insurance policies to cover diagnosis and treatment of autism in children.

This law has passed in several Republican states, including Texas, he said.

But, the Oklahoma House of Representatives created a committee made up of 10 Republicans and five Democrats. The nature of the committee was to kill the law, Gumm said. The committee was also not created correctly, because it should have been based on the percentage of Republicans and Democrats in the House of six to four.

He said they could have done a lot worse, but getting some good items passed was like pulling teeth.

Gumm said they had been working on legislation to keep sex offenders from working in ice cream trucks. One of the reasons it was passed was because a mother was worried about how a driver looked at her children.

Some items, such as healthcare, did not get cut because of the stimulus package, Gumm said.

Though they did not always agree, Gumm said Gov. Brad Henry has been doing a great job.

When Henry vetoes a bill, the Republicans send it to the people, he said.

One example was a voter ID bill. Gumm said it sounds good, but an older gentleman, who is not able to get his birth certificate or voting ID card, will not be allowed to vote, even if the people at the polls know him.

“Studies show voter ID suppresses Democratic vote by three to five percent,” Gumm said, adding that Republicans claim the bill would help the electoral system.

Gumm and Carey also presented Leon Sherrer, owner of Sherrer’s/Fideaux’s, with a state resolution proclaiming that State Highway 69 from Waldron Drive to Alabama Street will be called “Leon Sherrer Highway.”

The meeting was then opened up for questions.

One person asked the officials how to turn everything around.

Gumm said he is a fan of Harry Truman, and that the truth needs to be told. This includes the truth about the Republicans’ stories.

He said Republicans have done a better job telling their stories than Democrats have.

“Family values have to be more than two words on a mail piece at election time,” Gumm said.

“If you are for families, why aren’t you helping children with autism?” he said.

“Jay and I refuse to let people suffer,” Carey said. “We continue to fight for the things that are important and fix a problem.”

Another question was how taxes on groceries can be abolished.

Gumm said Republicans do not like the tax cut, adding that he was called a Communist because he was for the grocery tax cut, but not necessarily for income tax cuts.

He said letters need to be sent to government officials to ask for grocery tax cuts. When asked to whom to send letters to, Gumm replied, “Everybody, send it to everybody.”

Gumm encouraged the crowd to write letters to editors. If people remain silent, the Republicans will cut income tax, but not grocery taxes, he said.

When asked how to better identify the Democratic party, Carey responded, “We are going to have to continue to educate people.”

He said people think income tax cuts will affect them, but they actually will not. Also, a large part of the budget for items such as education comes from income tax.

Another question was about who will be running in the next elections. Gumm said he will be re-running for his position, and Boren will be running for Congress.

Carey said there will be a lot of candidates for lieutenant governor.

When asked if he is running for lieutenant governor, Carey said he will be putting a lot of thought into making a decision in the next few weeks.

Carey said that no matter if he decides to run for the position or not, he will not be re-running for his current position.

Gumm and Carey thanked everyone for being there and were presented with gifts.

Hal Johnson announced that he currently resigned as the Bryan County Central Committee chair. David Northcutt is filling his position.

Joe Hill, field representative for Boren, said the Congressman’s Durant office is located at 112 N. 12th Avenue, and will have its open house July 1.

“Our office is up and running,” Hill said.