I've received word that proposed state funding for about 30 Oklahoma Historical Society sites, including the Route 66 Museum in Clinton, has been cut from $3.1 million to a mere $700,000.
The state is working out its yearly budget and has less than a week in which to do so. It seems ludicrous to cut funding of these sites at a time when 1) the state is in the midst of a huge financial surplus; and 2) when the state is about to celebrate its centennial. To reinstate the funding, Oklahoma Route 66ers are urged to contact Rep. Chris Benge, who is chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee.
You can call Benge at 405-557-7340 or e-mail him at chrisbenge@okhouse.gov
You can also snail-mail him at:
Representative Chris Benge
Oklahoma House of Representatives
2300 N. Lincoln, Room 432-D
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
When I drove Route 66 about five years ago, we stopped at the Oklahoma Route 66 museum. Being on a budget, we chose to go to that museum over a lot of other places along Route 66 that we could have stopped at. It was one of our favorite activities on the trip. Cutting the budget for a presumably popular tourist attraction seems short-sighted.