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McCurtain county will continue to prosper as long as businesses are attracted to the area. With these businesses come more jobs and an increase in the amount of money and investment in the area. In order for McCurtain County to move forward in that direction, the right foundation has to be laid. That foundation begins with better infrastructure. It is imperative that the plans made to four-lane U.S. Highway 70 be completed and that we continue efforts to improve State Highway 3 between Broken Bow and Antlers. In addition, improvements to U.S. Highway 259 south of Idabel and north of Broken Bow must begin to address the future growth of the thriving tourism industry. Good infrastructure is vital to tourism and attracting more jobs. Once the infrastructure is in place, new opportunities for growth will become apparent to businesses and developers. This means more quality jobs for McCurtain County. We must build a diverse economy and work force that provides a variety of opportunities in the areas of agriculture, energy, manufacturing, timber, and tourism.
HEALTH CARE Providing quality, accessible and affordable health care is a vital component to moving McCurtain County forward. These three things assist in driving economic development and job creation. Quality health care means providing qualified doctors and facilities with the latest technology available. Accessible health care means working to keep hospitals and clinics open and bringing more good doctors to rural Oklahoma. It also means building upon our partnership with the Choctaw Nation on providing access to health care for all McCurtain County citizens. Affordable health care means enabling your local pharmacist to help you buy cheaper prescription drugs, seeking to lower the cost of insurance premiums, and increasing funding for Medicaid in order to provide proper health care for the state’s most needy citizens.
EDUCATION There is nothing more fundamental to the future success of McCurtain County than providing a knowledgeable and skilled work force. We must properly fund our local school districts, the Kiamichi Technology Center and the SOSU-McCurtain County campus in Idabel. With good schools, we can encourage our citizens to pursue higher education opportunities right here at home. Our teachers are a valuable asset to the community and thus deserve respect. Teaching is an important calling and those who are in the profession and those who have served need the best compensation we can afford. We must protect our teacher retirement system, increase pay and benefits, and provide the very best resources in the classroom. Better paying and higher quality jobs require more knowledge and skills. This means our community needs more access to higher education. To achieve this we need to provide funding to SOSU-McCurtain County to employ additional staff and increase the number of courses offered.
PUBLIC SAFETY A safe and secure McCurtain County is important for our well being and business. In order to prosper our communities need strong law enforcement, efficient emergency medical services and quality rural fire departments. Every small town in rural Oklahoma is waging a war against illegal drugs. Our law enforcement agencies need help addressing this issue. Increased funding of grants for the district attorney’s office, drug court, sheriff’s office and local police departments is essential to fighting this war on crime.
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Paid for by FRIENDS OF HANK AUSTIN 2008
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