page_title: Frank Keating
section_title: Second term
hierarchical_section_title: Frank Keating / Governor of Oklahoma / Second term
caption_attribution_description: English: The Adjutant General for the state of Oklahoma, Major General (MGEN) Stephen P. Cortright, USAF, (left) addresses member of the, 138th Fighter Wing, Tulsa Air National Guard, Tulsa OK, at their annual strategic planning conference. Governor Frank Keating, Governor for the state of Oklahoma, accompanies MGEN Cortright, 10/20/2001
context_page_description: Francis Anthony Keating II is an American attorney and politician who served as the 25th governor of Oklahoma from 1995 to 2003.
  As of 2014, Keating is one of only four governors in Oklahoma history, in addition to George Nigh, Brad Henry and Mary Fallin, to hold consecutive terms and the first Republican to accomplish that feat. As governor, he oversaw the state's response to the Oklahoma City bombing. His term was also marked by the enactment of welfare reform and tax cuts.
context_section_description: Sworn in on January 11, 1999, Keating's second term began with a progressive agenda, based primarily on education. In his 1999 inaugural address, Keating set four goals for Oklahoma for his second term:
  Raising Oklahoma's ACT to the national average by 2005,
  Decreasing Oklahoma's divorce rate by 50% before 2010,
  Ensure one out of every three Oklahomans has a college degree by 2010, and
  Raising Oklahoma's per capita income to reach the national average by 2025
  Keating focused largely on education. He increased spending for common, vo-tech, and higher education facilities throughout the state and introduced charter schools to Oklahoma for the first time. His policies and recommendations on education to the Legislature lead to the largest investment, over $100 million, on higher education. Keating, in 2000, also raised teacher pay by over $3000 annually, the largest raise Oklahoma's teacher had ever experienced. Keating even managed to get higher educational facilities attracted to Tulsa for the first time. His legislative agenda required that all Oklahoma students take three years of math and four years of English, History and Science before graduation.
  Along with the agenda set forth in his inaugural address, Keating sought to address out-of-wedlock births, substance abuse, and child abuse. Enlisting state government, community groups, and faith organizations, he organized the statewide initiative to strengthen marriage.
  Keating struggled to get workers' compensation reform and right to work laws enacted due to the political makeup of the Oklahoma Legislature. Keating adjusted policies, made new appointments to Oklahoma's Worker's Compensation Court, and took other measures to control Oklahoma's rising worker's compensation costs. He would have to wait two years to see his vision for a right to work fulfilled. The Legislature decided to propose anti-union right to work measures as a 2001 constitutional amendment. Keating's six-year battle came to an end when, on September 21, 2001, Oklahomans approved the measure.
  As he had done in first term, Keating sought to grant broad-based tax cuts. To further reduce taxes, Keating won passage of an income tax break and of the creation of Oklahoma's earned income credit system to benefit the poor. Also, under Keating's auspices, both Democratic and Republican leaders in the Legislature launched studies to examine Oklahoma's tax system, with the purpose of overhauling the entire system. During the study, the complete elimination of Oklahoma's income tax was proposed.
  Keating signed a major criminal justice bill that reformed Truth in Sentencing law in Oklahoma.
  In other legislative initiatives, Keating signed the repeal of Oklahoma's annual vehicle inspection program. He also granted state correctional officers and highway patrol troopers pay raises. Keating addressed the problems faced in Oklahoma's Tar Creek Superfund site by appointing a task force on the issue.
  Among Keating's other accomplishments; overseeing the largest road construction project in Oklahoma history and leading his state through devastating tornadoes in 1999. As a crowning achievement, Keating raised more than $20 million in private money towards completion of the Oklahoma State Capitol with a dome. The capitol was originally designed for a dome, but state funding for it had run dry during World War I.
  Term limits prevented him from running for a third term; he was succeeded by Brad Henry as governor.
caption: Keating with Oklahoma Adjutant General Stephen Cortright in 2001
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