Senate Minutes by Senator Charles Wyrick
We expect a lot from the agencies funded by public dollars. We want our schools to educate every student they enroll and ensure they master all the subjects required of them and that that graduate with the skills they’ll need for college, career and technical schools, or the work force.
We expect our colleges and CareerTechs to generate even more graduates, especially in science, math and medicine, to help us attract more high-paying jobs to our state, all while keeping tuition and fees down.
We expect law enforcement at every level to keep us safe by getting the bad guys off the street. We expect Corrections to keep them locked up away from us for the longest time possible, but if they are released, we want to be assured they’re no longer a threat to the rest of society.
We know Oklahoma is close to dead last in this country in most public health rankings. Among the worst when it comes to diseases like diabetes, heart attacks, cancer and more—we expect our state and local health departments to help change that. We expect our state and local mental health and substance abuse services to help turn around the statistics on mental illness and drug and substance abuse that further drag our state down.
All of these entities have made the case for additional funding in order to fulfill the responsibilities and services they are supposed to provide to the citizens of this state. But because of the $611 million shortfall in the coming budget year, these agencies are being told to get ready for budget cuts.
Part of the shortfall is the result of low oil prices. But much of it is due to poor budgeting practices, including huge tax breaks for special interests, and earmarks for specific state entities that have increasingly reduced the amount of funds available for lawmakers to appropriate to all other state agencies.
The tax incentives, for the most part, are supposed to create jobs. The earmarks are intended to give a stable source to much needed projects and programs. Those are both good things—but there are times when you need to have greater flexibility in prioritizing funding decisions. Basically the current structure ties our hands, and no one seems willing to make any changes that would free up funds in the short-term.
On top of that, another income tax cut was approved last session that is going to remove $57 million in state dollars that could have gone to public safety, education, and other essential services. That amount will increase to $147 million the next year then to $200 million the year after that. And during that time, the average Oklahoman will only wind up with about $30 more a year—just a few pennies a day.
Last week we had the Department of Corrections come testify how they would be impacted by budget cuts. They already don’t have enough guards for all the inmates they house, and that situation is only getting worse. But they were told to get ready for a budget cut.
This week, our colleges and universities are being told the same thing. Get ready for budget cuts. The same message is being given to our public schools, our health and mental health departments, and on down the line.
I would have preferred to see us adopt better budgeting practices and avoid any additional tax cuts until we had enough guards in our prisons and our schools could fill empty teaching slots. It’s too late for that this year, but maybe after all this, more people inside and outside the Capitol will realize that we need to make some major changes in the way we approach the budget. Otherwise instead of raising the bar for our state in education, public safety and health, we’d better be prepared for the opposite.
As always, I welcome your comments on state government. Please feel free to contact me by writing to Senator Charles Wyrick at the State Capitol, Room 523, Oklahoma City, OK, 73105; call me at (405) 521-5561.
The post Senate Minutes by Senator Charles Wyrick appeared first on Grand Lake Business Journal.com.