OKLAHOMA CITY (OBV) – Sen. Julia Kirt is the new Democratic leader of the Oklahoma State Senate, and she sat down with Oklahoma Business Voice for a one-on-one interview about a wide range of issues concerning the quality of life for Oklahomans, including education, work opportunities, child care, tax cuts and bipartisanship.
Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, has been a member of the State Senate since 2018.
She succeeds Kay Floyd as the Senate’s lead Democrat and has already got to work putting together her leadership team.
Kirt told OBV she wants to focus on giving Oklahomans a better quality of life. Our one-on-one interview with her is as follows:
You’re Oklahoma’s new Senate Democratic leader. What in your opinion are the responsibilities of that position as it applies to the legislator as well as to the people of Oklahoma?
Kirt: The Senate Democrats are really focused on what’s best for Oklahomans. And I think it’s really important we show up every day with real problem solving in mind and common sense solutions. And so I, as Democratic leader, get to help harness some of that energy and help move us forward. We we’ve been very focused on making sure that people have opportunities for great education, taking care of their health and, of course, access to high paying jobs.
The [Democratic] caucus has really specific legislation that they want to advance to try to solve some of those problems. And then we also try to engage around bipartisan solutions to answer those biggest concerns of the public.
What are your top priorities for your first year as Senate Democratic leader?
Kirt: My big goal is to make sure that we’re the best we can be as a caucus. And so that means reaching real goals that make life better in Oklahoma. We’ve been trying to figure out how to build more prosperity for Oklahomans across the board; trying to make sure we’re standing up for solutions that that matter.
I know we have real concerns about staying focused on common sense solutions, and we’ve been disappointed by a lot of the preoccupation with extreme legislation that’s really about stoking fear or scoring political points. And we really want to get us focused at the Capitol on solving real problems instead of that kind of extreme legislation that can drive away workers, drive away companies and also just disengage people from what’s happening at the Capitol.
What are some of those real problems that require more focus to better the lives of Oklahomans?
Kirt: Well, when we’re talking about people having career advancement, we want people to be able to advance in their careers. They have to have high-quality education, public education, higher ed and CareerTech. So, for instance, specific solutions around the teacher shortage; we have a real challenge with, the exit of teachers, not enough teachers going into the field.
How do we make sure we get people who are teaching our kids the best training they can get to make sure all kids are thriving out of that education? That’s something really specific. Let’s look at maternal well-being. So, when you’re talking about health outcomes, we want to make sure that new babies and moms are as healthy as they can be so that they can thrive their whole life.
We have some specific legislation. Sen. Carri Hicks is running legislation about baby-friendly hospitals and trying to make sure that from the very beginning, we’re improving health outcomes for all Oklahomans.
A couple years ago, legislation passed that improved teacher salaries and focused on retaining teachers in Oklahoma. What other legislation would you like to see to get high-quality teachers in the classroom and keep those teachers on the job?
Kirt: I think we made some great bipartisan measures to make sure we had maternity leave for educators. That’s one of the things I was proudest to vote for in our caucus is that, for paid leave for a while. And that’s a way to keep people in the workforce and keep them healthy. I’ve been really proud of the work some of my colleagues are doing around the specific teacher training programs.
There’s ways to make micro-credentials or other short term training to make sure our emergency certified teachers are getting what they need to become quality educators. We can’t have people just come into the classroom and not learn anything about child development or how to teach and have them stay in the classroom long term. So, [it’s] trying to turn those emergency certified folks into alternative certified individuals.
How important of a priority is workforce development? Is it a pressing issue for Oklahoma’s future success?
Kirt: For Oklahoma to succeed, we have to have great public schools, and those schools have to be making sure every kid is learning to read and really getting those advanced skills that they need. For that, we have to have high quality educators. And we’ve really seen a big reduction in teachers. Some of our recent initiatives, like the bipartisan Inspired to Teach program that gave scholarships for students entering higher ed, focused on becoming educators. Those kinds of bipartisan measures are making a difference already, but we have other ways we can move forward. Every kid can succeed if they have someone who knows how to help them learn. And we want to see people maximizing that potential.
You spoke about, the importance of giving children educators who are capable, who have the talent and the skill to give young Oklahomans high quality education. Is continuing education important for teachers to have the skills to be able to do that?
Kirt: The best educators are curious and are learners themselves, lifelong learners. And so giving them those opportunities, I think, is a huge part of having a high quality teacher workforce. We have to make sure we’re not bogging them down with red tape and bureaucracy. There’s a lot of mandated training that is unnecessary. And so we need to make sure we’re not bogging down public school educators with things that they don’t need to help students succeed.
Meanwhile, free them up to get the kind of long-term opportunities that help them stay in the field and do better for kids.
What do you think should be some of the basic requirements for teachers to be able to become teachers? Should they meet certain criteria to be educators, to ensure that students get the best teachers?
Kirt: The legislature’s undermined us having quality teachers in the schools. Just a couple of years ago, my caucus opposed the adjunct teacher provisions that were put in place, which allows anyone – essentially anyone who’s 18 – to serve as a long-term substitute [teacher], a long-term educator. That concerns me. And I think we shouldn’t allow that to stand.
But that also means we have to retain more of our educators. So we’ve got to make sure we’re treating them like the high-quality professionals they are. So when we have great teachers, we have to help it be easy for them to stay in the classroom. We’ve got to minimize the challenges they face dealing with kids’ other issues, helping make sure kids are coming to school fed, that they are coming to school healthy. Those things matter for educators to make progress. And I think what we’ve done is undermine the highly qualified educators with all the challenges and bureaucracy they’re dealing with.
One more question on that. Teaching is is a very demanding job. A teacher takes on a lot of responsibility. What more can the state do for educators to help them not become burned out and to not lose their passion for the job and to keep them on the job and teaching at a high level?
Kirt: We’re asking educators to do a lot with challenges that are in our society. We’re asking educators to fill the void when we have a social work challenge or a mental health challenge or a challenge around being hungry. Those basic issues we need to solve better as a community so that kids are showing up ready to learn.
When we have kids who can’t afford lunch, when we have kids who show up and they haven’t had access to mental health care, those are challenges our teachers are not equipped to deal with. They’re dealing with large class sizes, and they’re trying to keep things moving. So, I think we got to make sure we keep it real and that we’re addressing real challenges for kids.
Aside from the teaching field, what are some workforce reform and growth initiatives that you want to see in the next legislative session? And are there any that you foresee making it to the floor and potentially to the governor’s desk?
Kirt: One of the big things our caucus has been talking about is a challenge for the workforce if they can’t afford housing. If we have instability around housing or if people can’t live where they work, that’s a real challenge. And so, looking at those opportunities to improve workforce housing in the state is something that I know is important to us.
I know that there’s bipartisan measures moving forward. And I’m trying to be as involved as I can to make sure those solutions make sense for every Oklahoman.
Are there any Oklahomans whom you feel do not receive sufficient opportunities when it comes to obtaining a good, steady job, or a job that can lead to a promising career? And what can be done to improve that situation, to give those Oklahomans more opportunities?
Kirt: People need a living wage, and so we have to find a way to get people the skills they need to earn a living wage. People have to be able to afford a place to live and to work just one job and not multiple jobs, because I think what we’re seeing is a challenge for people staying in the workforce.
We have a real problem around caregiving. So, if we don’t make sure that people have access to childcare or senior care or care for their loved ones who have disabilities, they can’t go to work. So for a while, we saw a real lag in our workforce participation. That’s about support at home. Even people who want to work can’t work if they don’t have access to childcare or care for their loved one.
And we see a huge aging population. And that’s going to be a big challenge for our workers. If they’re caring for a loved one who is aging, how do they keep them safe? And we have to make sure we have those services available.
What can the state do to create better job prospects for people from lower income communities?
Kirt: I think we need to see all Oklahomans have that opportunity to prosper. And that means making sure that every school in the state has the support needed to help kids thrive. And if they don’t thrive at the beginning, they’re not going to learn to read. They’re not going to graduate and be ready for what’s next. They’re not going to able to enter a CareerTech or higher ed system. And we know that every kid should be able to thrive.
There are many former prison inmates who are trying to put their life back together and do good. An important part of that is getting a good job. Do you feel that there are sufficient opportunities in Oklahoma for former felons to get good jobs? And what more can the state do to get those people on the right track by getting them trained and getting them in a good career?
Kirt: We got to deal with root causes here, and I think sometimes we want to jump to the end, but we do have to help people get stabilized. So, one of the initiatives I’ve seen that I think is really great is the opportunity for short-term Medicaid coverage for people leaving incarceration or leaving inpatient care, because those transitions are a real challenge for people.
If they exit the jail and they don’t have stable income or they don’t have access to their medications, they’re not going to enter the workforce. We need to make sure they get those opportunities. So, I think dealing with some of those root causes is going to make a huge difference to people being able to work.
The Graduation Act of 2024 expanded graduation requirements to include the career-readiness training. Do you think students should have the option to take career-readiness courses and have those classes count toward their diploma? And what more should Oklahoma schools do to prepare students for their future careers, especially those students who want to begin their career right out of high school?
Kirt: I have a high school kid in my household. I have a junior in my household. They’re doing career preparation in schools now. They are. I think what you see, though, are educators who have 30 kids in their classroom. So, how easy is it for them to customize that education to each student when there’s 30 kids, right?
They’re talking about career goals. They have access to the ICAP program from the state Department of Education. But how does that turn into real interests and pursuing those interests? So, what I see as the disconnect is really class sizes and making sure kids have access to those adults.
A lot of students can’t go to a university because of high tuition costs. What can be done to make university education in Oklahoma more affordable and attainable for students so that they’re not paying student loan debt late into their lives?
Kirt: Oklahoma is not funding our public higher ed institutions like we used to. So, when people are surprised it costs more, I’m like, “Yeah, because we are paying less as a state.” We have deprioritized that we need to fund higher ed in a way that it makes it affordable and makes sure that lower income folks get access.
One of our biggest successes in the state is Oklahoma Promise, and that made sure that people of a certain income would get that tuition break. I’ve heard life-changing stories from that. We can expand those opportunities for kids.
The Oklahoma Workforce Commission has a new CEO. What can the Workforce Commission do to be an asset to the state and work well with the legislature?
Kirt: To me, a lot of our workforce challenge is that-long term vision. I see us making changes every year in some of our systems and programs. That’s not going to help us with that long-term growth and change that we need. So, I think that developing real plans and strategies, I think that’s a really valuable priority for us, because that long-term thinking is how we make the changes that matter for a kid entering pre-K now who won’t be in our workforce for quite a few years. But we want to see that continuation and that quality.
The legislator passed some pretty significant legislation last year with the creation of OkEDGE, the purpose of which is to attract top companies and entrepreneurs to Oklahoma and retain businesses already here. What are some key things Oklahoma needs to do to attract those top companies that can come here and make Oklahoma a more lucrative state and help grow our workforce?
Kirt: We need those opportunities in higher ed. That is a huge economic driver to get those professionals to make sure we have highly-educated professionals. That way we can attract and retain talent. The other big thing to me is we’ve got to reduce our focus on extreme legislation. The kinds of extreme legislation that have distracted us at the legislature and eaten up a lot of time also make businesses not want to come here and make workers not want to come here or stay here.
So, we’ve got to stay focused on common sense issues, rather than getting distracted by scoring political points.
Accessible and affordable child care is a major concern for many parents and business leaders across Oklahoma. Around 55 percent of the state is classified as a child care desert with a lot of parents, mothers especially, having to quit their job to stay home and take care of their kids because they can’t either find or afford child care. How how high of a priority is this child care crisis to the Senate? And what new measures should be taken by the legislator to make child care more affordable and accessible?
Kirt: Child care is a huge issue, and our caucus has worked on it for years. We have some members who’ve really specialized in understanding the child care needs. You got to deal with the workforce of the childcare institutions. So, how do we make sure we have high quality folks working with our youngest kids? I think we have a double-edged challenge because not only do people not have access to any childcare in some parts of our state, but they definitely don’t have access to people who have real training in how to bring up young kids and early childhood educators.
So, I think we have to focus on access and quality at the same time. And what I’ve seen is Senator Hicks has worked really hard on legislation about childcare standards and also how they’re funded and make sure they’re funded in a way that encourages high-quality seats for kids.
One of the pieces of legislation that almost made it to Gov. Kevin Stitt’s desk last year was from Rep. Suzanne Schreiber. That bill gave tax credits to employers who help their employees with childcare. Do you think that bill has a chance of succeeding in the upcoming legislative session?
Kirt: I think more people are aware of the challenges of childcare. And I think that whatever solutions work the best, we should move forward with. I think the most direct is direct-to-the-worker subsidies, and we have that opportunity to increase. Right now we have a pretty low income threshold. Only folks who are very, very low income are getting the kinds of subsidies to help them. That’s a real direct way. And we can make it as people are able to work and earn more, then they reduce their subsidies. I think that matters.
What can employers do to help their employees have a better quality of life?
Kirt: We see health outcomes as a big part of that. People thrive when they can take care of their health. And employers are doing a good job with offering people paid leave, offering them high-quality health benefits, especially mental health coverage. I think there’s been a lot of bipartisan work we’ve been involved with to improve mental health coverage, to make sure when an employer is paying a health premium, they expect that their employees get the kind of coverage that they’re told.
But what we found is there’s a lot of networks that aren’t adequate. So, people can’t find someone for mental health care. If employers are paying for those premiums, they should be getting access to that kind of network. Now we need to make sure we have enough behavioral health access. That’s substance abuse treatment. That’s mental health treatment. Because what we see is a huge drain on the economy. When people are not dealt with in a preventative way, when it becomes a crisis, we have people out of the workforce, we have broken up families, we have people leaving the workforce. We need to make sure we have preventative care in mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment. Those are priorities.
And so, when we make sure those private networks are adequate, that’s going to help cover more Oklahomans with that kind of quality care.
Oklahoma is a predominantly Republican state right now. As a Democrat, can you speak about the challenges of getting bipartisan support for your agenda items?
Kirt: Our big goal is the people of Oklahoma. Better outcomes for the people of Oklahoma is our number one priority. That means a lot of bipartisan work. Sometimes that means harm reduction. And actually going to authors and trying to reduce what we view as harm. I think the challenge when there’s an imbalance is sometimes there’s not as much negotiation, sometimes there’s not as much consideration of the consequences.
As a minority voice, I know that we feel a responsibility to make legislation better. And that’s always what we’re working on, asking questions behind closed doors and in those public meetings to try to make that legislation better. And also wondering what voices are not being heard. Because when you have one caucus, that’s huge. They get to talk to themselves and make decisions.
We got to make sure we’re talking to the people of Oklahoma and doing what they actually want to see happen. So that’s our big priority. Make sure we’re bringing the voices that aren’t necessarily heard on a regular basis. Make sure we’re asking the hard questions and make sure we’re improving legislation. Sometimes that means our bills move forward. But the big priority is making sure that we’re doing the best we can for the people of Oklahoma.
Do you support either reducing or eliminating Oklahoma’s income tax?
Kirt: People are still hurting from inflation. And we see people who can’t afford even basics right now. And so, when we look at tax reform, we’re going to demand that it be something that supports hard work. When you see hardworking Oklahomans, the people who need it most, that’s who should be getting tax cuts.
And we got to make sure that we’re not shortchanging ourselves, shortchanging our own education system, shortchanging by focusing on too few industries or one specific company getting breaks. We got to make sure it’s something where hard work is rewarded. And that’s really what we’ll stand for.
There’s already been legislation filed to gradually reduce the income tax to where it’s eventually eliminated. Do you think that the income tax should or should not be eliminated and why?
Kirt: Oklahoma needs to function. There’s certain things that people expect us to get done. That’s making sure we have good public schools, making sure we have access to health care when we need it, and making sure we have good roads. That kind of infrastructure takes money. So, we’ve got to be responsible and look at what the state really needs on an ongoing basis. And we got to make sure we’re not putting all that burden on working Oklahomans.
So, when we look at tax cuts, we need to look longer term. It can’t be just about today. It’s also going to be about long-term making sure those who need it the most are getting access to what they need, making sure if there are taxes that are being paid unnecessarily, they go back into everybody’s pockets, not just a select few. And I think what we have to look at is what’s fair and right over time, instead of just looking at today.
Is there an agreeable income tax reduction that Oklahoma can pass and still be able to function well and provide all the services Oklahomans need?
Kirt: I know that the Senate Democrats are willing to work on any legislation that would actually focus on working families when we’re talking about tax cuts. If it went to working families first, we’re really ready to sit down and talk. I’ve yet to see a proposal that I see as fair, in that way, but I’d be glad to look at it.
Are there any other tax cuts that you would support? Anything that you think would help working families?
Kirt: We’re keyed in on things like the Earned Income Tax Credit, which encourages people to stay in the workforce and gives them funds to cover basic needs. We’re very interested in the Childcare Tax Credit and making sure that that’s adequate for people that really get the care they need for their loved one, their dependents, whether that’s an aging senior or a person with disabilities.
We also want to see that Sales Tax Relief Credit go up. That is targeted towards our lowest-income Oklahomans, and it’s a really simple way to improve their end-of-year returns.
What are some viable bipartisan initiatives that the legislature can pass in 2025?
Kirt: We’re going to keep working on affordable housing. We have a workforce housing challenge. And so, how do we make sure there’s sufficient supply and that the market can keep up with the demand that’s out there? That’s affecting all of our stability. It’s affecting our education, it’s affecting our communities ability to grow. So, affordable housing is something I know I’m knee-deep in bipartisan conversations about.
We’ll keep talking health. I know that we need to improve health outcomes. And there’s lots of work across the aisle to make sure we’re doing that.
You spoke a few times about working across the aisle. What agenda items do you look forward to working closely on with Gov. Stitt and your Republican colleagues?
Kirt: We work in a bipartisan way every single day. I work with people on issues that we can agree on. We always are trying to find common ground. My colleagues in the Senate Democrats, they’re working across the aisle all the time. Any initiative that is better for Oklahomans, we’re going to show up and do that work.
[I look forward to] trying to shift our health care system to be about outcomes and making sure people are having quality outcomes and health so that they can thrive, so they can participate in the workforce, so they can have their families. We really need to focus in on outcomes and make sure that people are getting healthier in our state.
In these recent times, when it comes to political discourse, things are pretty tumultuous. It seems like people don’t really have conversations anymore. In general, it feels like there’s a lot more shouting than actual discourse. What do you think are some misconceptions in a state like Oklahoma about Democrats? And what do you want to say to folks about what Oklahoma’s Democratic Party is trying to do to better their lives?
Kirt: Senate Democrats, Oklahoma Democrats are pragmatic. I think we get caught up in national storylines. But really here, what you’ll see are people who are keyed in on working Oklahomans and trying to make life better [for them]. So you’ll find us working on common sense reforms. You’ll find us working on really pragmatic issues, and we’re very driven by data.
We want to make sure we’re doing the things that really matter. I think we get caught up in those national storylines, but really look local at the kinds of things we can accomplish together and are accomplishing together.
When it comes to improving the quality of life for Oklahomans, what needs to be the Oklahoma State Legislature’s focus in 2025?
Kirt: We got to stay absolutely focused on freedom and opportunity that’s based around quality education. That means high quality jobs, and that means being able to take care of your health. So, if we can keep those three things in mind, then we’re actually going to be doing things that solve real problems.
