CLAREMORE — Under the state budget agreement reached Tuesday, Rogers County museums would see very little reduction in the funds currently received. The $6.5 billion state budget makes cuts in agencies and education, including a 7 percent cut to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, but virtually leaves Claremore’s museums alone to do their business of attracting and promoting Oklahoma tourism.

Sen. Sean Burrage (D-Claremore) and Rep. Marty Quinn (R-Claremore) have fought hard to educate other lawmakers as to the cultural and economic importance of the J.M. Davis Arms and Historical Museum and the Will Rogers Memorial Museums to the state of Oklahoma.

They have not been alone in the fight.

Claremore civic and business leaders have made an effort to reach out to Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb. In his position, Lamb is the chief economic development officer, including its tourist trade.

“We are certainly pleased with the proposed budget reduction for the Will Rogers Memorial Museums,” said Executive Director Steve Gragert. “We were cut .6  percent which is much less than earlier proposals.”

Earlier this year, proposed legislation would have cut deeply into funding for the two museums, both of which were specially established by state law with the agreement that Oklahoma would receive the gift of these collections and land and, in turn, would help subsidize the museums to see they were properly maintained.

Quick response by Burrage and Quinn stopped that movement, but up to 33 percent cuts to J.M. Davis and over 20 percent cuts to Will Rogers Museums were believed to be under consideration for this year’s budget.

If the current proposal is adopted, the museums will fare better than expected, with cuts to the Will Rogers Museums equaling about $4,500, according to Gragert.

“Our appropriations since 2009 have been reduced cumulatively by about 20 percent,” said Gragert.

Those funds maintain the building, keep the lights lit, pay the staff and more.

The Will Rogers Museums include the 400 acre, living history birthplace ranch in Oologah and a 25 acre property in Claremore in addition to the structural facilities at both locations. The J.M. Davis museum was cut .2 percent or $668 in the proposed budget.

The Oklahoma Historical Society was cut 3.2 percent. OHS operates the Oklahoma History Center and several museums and historic sites throughout the state.

Should those museums lose their funding, they could potentially revert to the heirs and Oklahoma could lose these jewels altogether.Tourism is an important leg of Oklahoma’s portfolio and translates into dollars for the sagging state economy. Particularly relevant are tourism draws that bring in dollars from out-of-state, or in some cases, all the way from Europe or Australia, to boost our local economy through sales tax dollars, hotel-motel taxes and more.

In Claremore, the tourism issue is particularly relevant as the historic home of Will Rogers boasts two world class museums in the J.M. Davis and the Will Rogers Memorial.

Oologah is home to the Will Rogers Birthplace Ranch, an associated museum to the Will Rogers Memorial in Claremore.

J.M. Davis Arms and Historical Museum  is believed to be the largest collection of guns in the world.

Visitors come from across the nation, some following historic Route 66, to visit Claremore and its museums. A growing international trend has visitors from other nations landing in California or Chicago and renting cars to drive Route 66.  Those visitors often stop, dine, and otherwise spend money in Oklahoma because of the history and museums in Claremore. That resource is an economic boost that Oklahoma needs to protect and nurture in the tight economy, say local leaders.

The connection between Oklahoma’s roadways, in particular Route 66 and tourism is also important, but ODOT official say they will move forward with critical maintenance and repairs of the state’s highway system.

While the agency suffered a 7 percent cut, projects will be funded through bonds. The low interest rates on bonds will be offset by the rising cost of postponing projects that would become more expensive down the road due to inflation as the economy bounces back. Increased deterioration of infrastructure also increases the cost of repair and replacement that makes delay costly.

Moving forward with bonds to fund road and bridge projects makes sense, say ODOT officials, including Randle White who heads Division 8 covering Rogers County and much of Northeast Oklahoma.

While there are numerous projects on the agency’s 8 year plan, a bridge replacement on Route 66 in Verdigris is anticipated as early as this fall.

While the proposed budget was created and agreed upon by the new Republican leadership, nothing is certain until approved by the legislature and signed by the governor.