Democratic Party Chairman Praises
Victory for Oklahoma Workers

Republican Plot to Strip Away the Rights

of Injured Workers is Found Unconstitutional

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma -- Dr. Ivan Holmes, Chairman of the Oklahoma Democratic Party, commended the Oklahoma Supreme Court for striking down a portion of the Republican’s 2005 Workers’ Compensation Law as unconstitutional. The provision stripped away the right of an injured worker to choose their own doctor and left it in the hands of the employer.

“The Oklahoma legislature has no right to take away an injured worker’s right to present evidence from their own medical expert regarding the extent of their injuries, so this was the only logical decision the Oklahoma Supreme Court could have made,” said Dr. Holmes.

Holmes, who was recently elected to the Democratic Party post, campaigned extensively on the issue of restoring the rights of Oklahoma workers in regard to doctor choice. “Thankfully Oklahoma workers did not have to wait on the Republican legislature to restore their rights, because Republican Speaker Lance Cargill and Republican Senate President Glenn Coffee are far too busy pandering to big corporations and wealthy donors at high-dollar fundraisers.”

“When speaking to the Senate Committee about this workers’ compensation bill I asked how many Senators would be willing to give up their right to select their own doctor and not one hand went up. Yet every Republican Senator voted to take away that right for injured workers,” explained Holmes.

“It is simply incredible that these Republican legislators would so blatantly ignore the will of Oklahomans, despite polls that show a majority of our citizens believe an injured worker should have the right to select their own doctor if injured on the job. What is also amazing is that the Republican legislators passed the bill knowing it was unconstitutional, because they would rather play partisan games with our legal system than do the real work of helping Oklahomans.”

Chairman Holmes expects Republicans to launch another assault on the rights of workers in the coming 2008 legislative session, but warned that he will visit the district of every legislator that sided with the corporations at the detriment of Oklahoma workers.

“I will stand in every town square holding press conferences to remind the voters of Oklahoma that Republicans refuse to provide answers to the daily struggles of Oklahomans, like providing affordable healthcare, finding good-paying jobs and building a strong educational system,”
concluded Holmes.

-- For more information please visit www.okdemocrats.org or www.okbluenotes.blogspot.com. --