Oklahoma Governor Touts Tort, Work Comp Reforms to Chicago Businesses

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin said she is pitching her state’s business climate and work force in an attempt to lure some Illinois-based companies to the Sooner State.

Fallin visited Chicago on July 21, meeting with several Illinois-based businesses that currently have a presence in Oklahoma. They include insurance giant Blue Cross Blue Shield, transportation company Navistar, and Acconia, which manufactures wind turbines.

“One of the things I told them about was our pro-business (legislative) session and how we focused on lawsuit and workers’ compensation reform,” the Republican governor said during a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “We cut our income tax by a quarter of a percent and balanced our budget, while the governor of Illinois actually raised taxes on businesses.”

Earlier this year, Illinois’ Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn signed a 66 percent temporary personal income tax increase and a separate corporate rate hike to help close a $15 billion budget gap in that state.

Fallin said Navistar, which employs more than 1,000 workers in Tulsa, is looking at the possibility of expanding its operations there.

“That expansion is still on the table,” she said. “We’re trying to push them over the line.”

Blue Cross Blue Shield employs workers in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, and Acconia is involved in several wind farm projects in western Oklahoma, Fallin said.

Fallin said she and members of her economic development team, including officials from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, planned to host a reception Thursday night with several “business prospects” and national location scouts to tout Oklahoma’s work force, cheap cost of land and recent legislative changes.

The GOP-controlled Oklahoma Legislature this year approved major changes to the state’s workers’ compensation and civil justice laws that proponents say were designed to improve the state’s business climate.

Topics Workers' Compensation Illinois Oklahoma