Maffucci Tries To Claim Collins Is Not A Liar

The Norman Transcript


Editor, The Transcript:
In a letter published in the May 25 edition of The Norman Transcript, Joseph Fairbanks alleged that Rep. Wallace Collins had falsely claimed he had not missed the vote to allow an amendment to HB-3358. Truth is, Fairbanks, not Collins has introduced false information to this inane barrage of misinformation to fool voters. Rep. Collins only claimed (in a previous reply to Bobby Cleveland's previous allegations--same subject) that he had not missed the vote on the bill.
I decided to look into these allegations and this is what I found:? Rep. Collins did miss one vote on March 12 -- which he never denied. It was a procedural vote; not a vote on any bill. The vote Collins missed made no difference, since it needed 68 votes to pass and only received 59.
As Fairbanks even admitted in his letter, Collins returned to vote "no" on HB-3358. Regarding the disgraceful implication that Collins is not "on the job" for his constituents, I would remind Fairbanks and the Transcript readers of Rep. Collins' 98 percent voting record.
Collins has assured me that he stands by his 2006 campaign pledge to responsibly eliminate grocery sales taxes.?Additionally, one can find in the legislative records that he voted to repeal the grocery sales tax on an amendment to HB-3103, but the Republican House majority killed that amendment. Furthermore, to honor his campaign pledge, Collins authored HB-1838 to eliminate the sales tax on both groceries and non-prescription medicines, using offsetting revenue by closing a tax loophole on advertising in order to make the bill revenue-neutral. His record has clearly shown that he prefers to cut taxes for hard-working, struggling Oklahoma families, for whom Fairbanks claims compassion. The Republican House leadership refused to allow even a hearing for Collins' bill.
BETTE W. MAFFUCCI