Education
A product of Oklahoma’s public education, Ryan understands the pivotal role that public education will play in the long-term success of our children and economic prosperity of Western Oklahoma. Together our local public schools, our Career and Technology Centers, and our area universities and community colleges, are the keys to opportunity for every citizen looking to work hard and build a better life for themselves and all of Western Oklahoma.

In tough economic times, it is vital that we have a State Representative that will fight to protect education from devastating budget cuts. While Ryan will fight to cut government waste in every way possible, the worst thing Oklahomans can do is to short-change our children’s education. McMullen is prepared to make the tough choices that will provide the funding to strengthen our state’s public education system.

These choices and battles will include fighting attempts to send our taxpayer dollars to private schools. It is imperative that in a world with limited resources, we invest every education dollar available in strengthening our public schools. Ryan will fight Republican efforts to siphon off these valuable dollars into risky private school voucher programs. Ryan believes we should demand excellence from our public school system, and provide them with the adequate resources, training and support to deliver.

Ryan will also be one of the legislature’s top advocates for local control of our schools. He will fight the big-city Republican agenda of state-mandated school consolidation. As a former student who went through the process of having his school consolidated ( Burns Flat-Dill City), Ryan understands how important it is to leave these tough choices up to local communities. It is imperative that we elect a representative that we can trust to look out for the interests of our small schools.

Health Care
Access to affordable health care will be an increasing need for citizens across our state. Rising insurance rates are forcing employers to cut benefits and rapidly increase the number of uninsured in our state, while rising prescription drug costs are forcing our seniors to make difficult choices between the necessities of life. Residents forced to use emergency rooms as their primary health care provider, increase the cost of health care for all Oklahomans.

As a state we must leverage more federal dollars to expand health care coverage to more of the uninsured, bringing down the cost of health care for each of us. Oklahoma also has the opportunity to leverage our state’s buying power to negotiate prescription drug discounts for our seniors. McMullen will do everything in his power to ensure all Oklahomans have access to life-saving care and medicines.

Quality Jobs
As someone whose career and educational background has focused on economic development, Ryan has made the creation of jobs the central focus of his legislative service. Evaluating our current tax incentive programs so Oklahoma can achieve maximum efficiency in every economic development dollar invested will be vital. Successfully programs such as “Quality Jobs” should be expanded, while less efficient programs should be phased out. Any reforms in our incentive programs should place greater emphasis on cultivating small business and growing existing business.

McMullen believes a well educated work force and an attractive business environment are the key ingredients for our state’s long-term economic prosperity. In this spirit, Ryan will lead the fight to look for greater efficiency in state government. Every taxpayer dollar that is saved can be used for priorities like strengthening our schools, investing in our roads and bridges, and further reducing the state estate tax.

There are several projects that are vital to the economic prosperity of the area. Ryan will certainly fight for continued support of Spaceport Oklahoma. This Western Oklahoma resource has the potential to create hundreds of jobs for residents across the area. To further build on this economic spark, it is important that we make infrastructure investments in our highways and bridges. Ryan will lead the fight to see that the four-lane expansion of U.S. Highways 183 and 81 are placed on the state’s road construction plan.

Tort Reform
Representative McMullen supports tort reform measures that will reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits filed each year in Oklahoma. He believes frivolous lawsuits increase the cost of business and needlessly clog our judicial system.

McMullen has supported a number of tort reform measures, including those that limit landowner liability. He opposes tort reform that limits a mineral owner’s right to collect unpaid royalties. McMullen also opposes tort reform that would essentially limit legal representation to only the wealthy. While he supports tort reform that legitimately reduces the number of frivolous lawsuits, Representative McMullen opposes tort reform that puts corporation ahead of the people, and does nothing but prevent corporations from being held accountable for theft and wrong-doing.

Sanctity of Life
Representative McMullen is a staunch pro-life advocate, has received an “A” rating from Oklahomans for Life, and is a proud member of Oklahoma’s Pro-Life Democrats. He co-authored and tenaciously fought for HB 1686, Oklahoma’s landmark pro-life legislation. HB 1686 includes informed consent, a 24-hour waiting period before a woman may have an abortion, parental notification before a minor may have an abortion, and the Conner and Lacy Law.

The Family Policy Council recognized Representative McMullen for his leadership in passing the most sweeping pro-life legislation in Oklahoma history. In August of 2005 Representative McMullen was presented an award for his “tireless dedication and commitment to enact groundbreaking pro-life legislation.”

2nd Amendment
Representative McMullen is fierce defender of our 2 nd Amendment Rights and strongly supports the rights of law-abiding citizens to own firearms. He is a sportsman and gun owner. McMullen co-authored Oklahoma’s “Stand Your Ground” law and consistently receives an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association.

Minimum Wage
Ryan has led the fight to increase Oklahoma’s minimum wage. While he believes minimum wage increases should ideally be implemented on the federal level, the lack of action from our leaders in Washington force states like Oklahoma to provide some economic relief to the working-class. While the minimum wage has not been raised in over 9 years, the cost of health care has increased by 100%, the cost of college tuition has increased by 90%, and the price of gasoline has increased by 150%. We need more leaders that will put the people first. Ryan McMullen is one of those leaders.

Roads & Bridges
Representative McMullen has quickly established his position as a leading advocate for greater investments in Oklahoma’s roads and bridges. In the spring of 2006, McMullen authored HB 2894 and SB 1028, legislation that was incorporated into HB 2940 to produce the largest investment in Oklahoma’s roads and bridges in state history. McMullen’s legislation doubled Oklahoma’s investment in transportation without raising taxes and ensures that every last penny of fuel taxes are dedicated to roads and bridges.

Illegal Immigration
McMullen is leader in a bi-partisan movement to pass aggressive illegal immigration reforms for the State of Oklahoma. He believes there are some very simple steps Oklahoma can take to improve our nation’s security, improve working-class wages, and save taxpayers millions of dollars, simply with a get-tough approach to illegal immigration.

The first step would simply prohibit illegal immigrants from attaining welfare benefits. Hard numbers are hard to come by, but most estimates show illegal immigrants cost Oklahoma taxpayer tens of millions of dollars in welfare benefits each year. Representative McMullen believes those who refuse to obey our nation’s law should not expect to reap such benefits.

Representative McMullen also believes Oklahoma should penalize employers for the hiring of illegal immigrants. We should provide employers a database for which to verify citizenship, and crack down on businesses who continue to enable illegal immigration by their hiring practices. Illegal immigrants drive down wages for the working-class. Cutting illegal immigrants off from both work and welfare benefits, will remove the incentive to come to Oklahoma, and allow American citizens to enjoy higher wages without this illegal competition.

The other simple step for which McMullen has been fighting is to better coordinate Oklahoma’s law enforcement with federal immigration officials in detaining and deporting illegal aliens. Currently Oklahoma law enforcement can not detain illegal aliens unless there are “non-immigration” laws being broken. This legislation would allow an immigration division within the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to detain illegal aliens until federal immigration officers can arrive. Utilizing local law enforcement could make the current immigration enforcement system far more efficient.

Workers’ Comp Reform
Representative McMullen has consistently fought for workers’ comp reforms that protect the rights of legitimately injured workers, including the right to choose your own doctor, and reduce the cost of workers’ comp insurance.

In the spring of 2005 McMullen authored three pieces of workers’ comp reform legislation that was included in the comprehensive workers’ comp reform bill. The comprehensive legislation is expected to save Oklahoma businesses over $120 million a year. The Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce has given the measure an “A,” saying in a report that it is “probably the best workers’ compensation bill ever seen in the State of Oklahoma.”

McMullen’s legislation increased fines and prison time for those filing fraudulent workers’ comp claims. He also authored a state law ensuring the confidentiality of forms filed by individuals claiming workplace injury. Previously, the lack of confidentiality was exploited by a small group of attorney who use the forms for client “prospecting.”

Representative McMullen also authored workers’ comp reforms that helped the state Department of Labor win a national award. In August of 2006 Oklahoma received the On-Site Consultation Achievement Recognition (OSCAR), for the best taxpayer-funded workplace safety program in the nation. The award was based on McMullen’s reforms and Oklahoma’s success in reducing workplace injury through the Department of Labor’s Safety Pays® program, a program that is credited for reducing participating businesses’ workers’ comp costs by more than 80%.