A governor does a lot, like signing bills into law, convening special sessions of the state legislature, delivering a “state of the state” address, granting commutations and pardons to prisoners and appointing people to various judicial and state offices.
It’s a big job.
The to-do list of Oklahoma’s governor also includes dealing with a budget shortfall, addressing manmade earthquakes, lecturing against four-day school weeks, reevaluating executions after drug mix-ups, checking on Capitol renovations and traveling in the state’s plane to New York for a meeting with president-elect Donald Trump.
We at Chicken-Fried News get a headache just listing the tasks and responsibilities of our governor.
Somehow, Gov. Mary Fallin found time to travel to Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan and Germany to visit Oklahoma troops stationed overseas.
According to Associated Press, two other governors joined Fallin in a trip arranged by the Pentagon and the U.S. State Department.
“The trip was an incredible experience and really brought to life the risks and sacrifices that our men and women in uniform make every day,” Fallin told AP.
Talk about a multitasker!
In addition to discussing her trip to the Middle East, the two-term governor got down to business estimating a budget hole of $500 to $600 million for fiscal year 2018, according to Tulsa World.
Print headline: Multitasker
This article appears in Dec 21-27, 2016.