James Coburn
EDMOND — EDITOR’S NOTE: To read about Jason Murphey’s opponent, Jennifer Sherrill, read Wednesday’s edition of The Edmond Sun.
Finding government inefficiencies is like discovering the tip of an iceberg, said Republican State Rep. Jason Murphey of House District 31.
“Once you find it, you know there’s a lot more there,” he said.
Murphey’s work to improve transportation in his district and lower homeowners’ property taxes isn’t done, he said. So the 31-year-old hopes voters will re-elect him to the House on Nov. 4 when he faces Democrat Jennifer Sherrill. Both candidates live in Guthrie.
“We need to lower taxes,” Murphey said, while noting that the hard work for lawmakers is where to cut spending.
For Murphey, cutting the size of government means removing inefficiencies and using technology to update antiquated purchasing procedures. He is the only legislator scoring a 100 percent average based on The Oklahoma Constitution’s Conservative Index.
A pro-life conservative, the Murphey family includes Jason, his wife Raleah and their two sons Jarod, 9, and Jarel, 7.
The Oklahoma Rifle Association presented the award of 2008 Legislator of The Year to Murphey. And he works closely with Homeland Security efforts.
Before being elected to the House in 2006, Murphey was a corrections officer at Diamondback Correctional Facility in Watonga. His first run for the House seat was unsuccessful in 2004 when voters elected Republican Dale Depue. He has a Web design business and spent four years as a Guthrie city councilman until 2005.
Murphey said yes when then-Speaker of the House Lance Cargill recruited him to be a member of the Modernization Study. He was successful in helping to pass House Bill 3325 that was part of Rep. Ken Miller’s modernization program for government.
“Our study found that in our purchasing processes alone, we probably wasted about $77 million just in that one agency,” Murphey said.
While serving on the House Transporation Committee, Murphey authored a bill passed this year that will save about $400,000 of money for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, he said.
Murphey said he fits in with the mainstream values of his constituency. “That makes doing it fun, and of course, I like making things happen,” he said.
Registering voters is one of his campaign goals as he walks through neighborhoods. His constituency in Logan County traditionally has had a Democratic county government.
“With Edmond moving into Logan County, it is so exciting to see more and more Republicans registering,” he said. “Those of us living in Logan County will greatly benefit from that.”
Transporation and increasing property taxes are prime voter concerns Murphey hears while on the campaign trail. The Edmond metro area continues to spread into southern Logan County but transporation improvements for a growing southern Logan County population depends on the rural county’s funding, he said. Logan County is not the only county challenged by suburban growth.
“That’s creating a nightmare situation for those county governments,” Murphey said. So he introduced a bill that would fund those areas differently. His initiative did not gain enough support in the legislature to pass but Murphey wants to continue the effort.
“It’s a hard deal numbers wise in the Legislature because it’s such a small constituency,” Murphey said.
Murphey supports government efforts to rid the barriers for Amtrak mass transit activities to occur through Edmond and Guthrie. The Northern Flyer Alliance wants to extend passenger rail from Fort Worth and Oklahoma City to Kansas City and Wichita. But he is leery about subsidizing the Heartland Flyer with taxpayer dollars, he said.
“I think the market will provide those solutions,” he said. “The government shouldn’t get in the way of the market providing those solutions.”
Murphey and state Sen. Clark Jolley, R-Edmond, sponsored a bill that would mandate televising state government which lacked enough support for approval. Murphey said he remains committed to the idea of television the House and Senate in action.
“That’s an absolute key thing for holding government responsible to the people — your ability to see what actually goes on,” he said.
TO LEARN MORE about state Rep. Jason Murphey, visit www.housedistrict31.com. or www.jasonwmurphey.com.
