Higher Ed Council Honors Coffee, Morgan

Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Morgan and Co-President Pro Tempore Glenn Coffee have been named recipients of the Lifetime Achievement award by the Higher Education Alumni Council of Oklahoma (HEACO).

The leaders and other members of the Senate will be formally honored next week during HEACO’s annual meeting. The ceremony will be held at noon on Thursday, July 24, at the Nigh University Center of the University of Central Oklahoma.

Morgan, who is leaving office this year due to term limits, said, “When I first came to the State Senate 12 years ago, I recognized how crucial it was to support higher education and help more students gain access to our colleges and universities.”

Coffee said he too was honored to receive the Lifetime Achievement award, and would continue to make higher education a top priority during his final two years in the Senate.

“Creating more Oklahoma college graduates and more economic opportunities to keep them in Oklahoma are keys to greater personal prosperity and a better quality of life for all our citizens,” said Coffee, R-Oklahoma City. “I’m proud that we’ve created a permanent funding source for OHLAP, that we’ve continued to dedicate resources for endowed chairs at our state’s colleges and universities, and that we’ve provided hundreds of millions of dollars in new funds for higher education in recent years. Our investments in higher education are an investment in the future of Oklahoma.”

Senate Appropriations Co-Chairs Mike Johnson, R-Kingfisher, and Johnnie Crutchfield, D-Ardmore, will be recognized with the HEACO Distinguished Service award, while Sen. Patrick Anderson, R-Enid, has been selected for the Courage of Convictions honor.

Freshman State Sen. Sean Burrage, D-Claremore, will be honored with the Legislative Newcomer award, given for his resolve and commitment to higher education’s needs during his first two years in the Senate.

Share |

Education Supplemental Agreement Reached

Governor Brad Henry and legislative budget leaders Rep. Ken Miller and Senators Johnnie Crutchfield and Mike Johnson assured education officials their April budgets will not have to be cut because of a shortfall in the state's 1017 fund.

The governor and legislative leaders today announced an initial supplemental appropriation to the public schools to address the shortfall in the education fund. The bipartisan agreement also contains additional funding for an educational achievement program and the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.

The agreement includes: Department of Education: $10 million in 1017 shortfall funds; $1.5 million to the Academic Achievement Award program; Corporation Commission: $3.1 million to supplement delayed federal funding.

Henry and budget leaders believe additional money will be needed in the remaining three months of this fiscal year to make up the projected 1017 fund shortfall. But, the priority was to get a first supplemental installment to the school districts before their April budget checks had to be cut.
The projected shortfall has decreased since the education department's initial funding request and may continue to do so as actual revenue collections are made. Once they have a better revenue picture later in April, the governor and legislative leaders have committed to provide a second supplemental appropriation to education to address its remaining 1017 fund needs if the initial supplemental proves to be inadequate to address the shortfall.

"This is a good first step to addressing our public schools' immediate budget needs, but it is only a first step," said Henry. "It is critical that we deliver additional funds to common education as quickly as possible to address the remaining school funding shortfall. I commend legislative leaders for their work to date and will work with them to appropriate the additional funds."

"This agreement heads off the April budget cuts for schools that had been planned by Superintendent Garrett, and addresses shortfalls in the Academic Achievement Awards program and for the Corporation Commission," said Senator Mike Johnson, R-Kingfisher, co-chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. "As budget negotiations continue, we will monitor the projected shortfall in the 1017 fund and will consider additional supplemental funding when it becomes necessary."

"This bipartisan agreement that includes necessary funding to keep schools across Oklahoma operating shows our commitment to education," Crutchfield, Democratic Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee said. "In a tight budget year we know we have to work harder to put together the pieces of the budget puzzle and we are committed to doing our part to make certain our schools are on strong financial footing. Once we know with certainty the total shortfall of the 1017 fund we will provide additional supplemental funding to eliminate that shortfall."

"This initial payment ensures our schools will get their full funding for April," said Miller, chairman of the House Appropriations and Budget Committee. "Moving forward we will be mindful of additional supplemental needs for the Education Department while also working to craft an overall budget. We are especially pleased to fund the AAA program because that proves our schools are going above and beyond in competing for these awards."

Share |

Henry, Legislative Leaders Agree On DOC Funding

Governor Brad Henry and legislative budget leaders announced Thursday that a bipartisan agreement has been reached on supplemental funding for the Department of Corrections and the Office of Juvenile Affairs.

The agreement includes: $24 million for the Department of Corrections and $2 million for the Office of Juvenile Affairs.

Budget talks are expected to continue early next week. Negotiators will continue to review other agencies’ supplemental funding requests, and will discuss funding issues for the 2009 fiscal year.

“I appreciate the good work of legislative leaders, their respective budget chairmen, Treasurer Meacham and the many others involved in negotiating this agreement,” Henry said. “It is critical that we address the immediate needs of our prison system, and this agreement does that. Our goal now is to craft a larger budget that will adequately fund corrections for the entire fiscal year and eliminate the need for annual supplemental appropriations to DOC.”

“Public safety has been and will remain a top priority for the Legislature this session. This bipartisan agreement on supplementals only four weeks into session shows that,” said Chairman of the House Appropriations and Budget Committee Ken Miller, R-Edmond. “We look forward to continuing to work hard on the budget as we seek additional agreements on the other requested supplementals and funding for fiscal year 2010.”

“This early, bipartisan agreement on supplemental funding for two critical public safety agencies is a positive indicator that the budget process can run smoothly this session,” stated Senate Appropriations Committee Co-Chairman Mike Johnson (R-Kingfisher). “It is also the first step in keeping our pledge to fully fund the Department of Corrections now and in the future.”

“We felt it was extremely important to make funding the public safety needs of our state our first priority,” Sen. Johnnie Crutchfield, Senate budget panel co-chairman (D-Ardmore) said. “Now that we have an agreement that will help create a safer Oklahoma, we can continue working on the funding needs of our state’s educational institutions and other critical state services upon which all Oklahomans depend.”

Henry concluded, “This is just a small, first step in what will be a very challenging budget process, but it is an important step, and I applaud everyone for working together in an inclusive, bipartisan manner. If we continue to cooperate in this fashion, and I believe we will, we will be able to address the state’s budget challenges and other issues in an efficient and effective manner.”

Share |

Term-Limited Johnnie Crutchfield Is Legislature's Cash King And He's Giving Campaign Money Away

Democratic State Senator Johnnie Crutchfield of Ardmore, term-limited and elected in 2006 without an opponent, has found a way to use the huge campaign war chest he amassed during and since that no-contest election: He's giving it away.

Crutchfield, a rancher with spreads in Carter and Pittsburgh counties, was elected to the Senate in 1998 and must leave in 2010. He's now co-chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, a position that traditionally generates signficant donations.

So it has been for Crutchfield. Today, he sits on a campaign fund of more than $251,000, tops among all legislators in terms of cash on hand.

Crutchfield had a Republican opponent in 2002; he won by a margin of about 3-to-1. By the end of 2006, his campaign fund held more than $261,000 even though he had no opponent that election year. In 2007, his reports to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission show, he's spent almost $60,000, most of it going to support charities and events in communities and schools throughout District 14.

Crutchfield's use of campaign funds to support charities and local events became evident in 2006. In that year, he made donations to support rural and volunteer fire departments, including those in Dickson, Springer, Fox-Graham, Marietta, Gene Autry and Wilson. He gave money to buy Christmas fruit boxes, support a battered women's shelter and a sheriff's department, and donated to support high school basketball tournaments, holiday festivals, a high school softball team, buy playground equipment, buy newspaper subscriptions for schools and help local rodeos. He also donated to the Oklahoma Education Televison Authority and to the Lone Grove and Marietta Future Farmers of America programs.

This year, he's donated campaign funds to Friends of Scouting, Dickson School, high school basketball tournaments, agriculture booster clubs, 4H and FFA programs, charity golf tournaments, a high school band, an Easter Egg hunt, a livestock show, the Healdton Relay for Life event, a local library, a pet spray/neuter program, Shriner's Hospital and a "Kids Day In the Park." He also donated money to buy pies and sponsor a fish fry in community fundraising events. His largest donation was $2,500 to help repair the Healdton Municipal swimming pool.

The donors who have made Crutchfield's largess possible include a wide range of individuals and political action committees; included are familiar names, those who frequently show up on legislative campaign reports with significant sums, and names that aren't familiar, donors who gave Crutchfield relatively small amounts. Almost every political action committee registered with the Ethics Commission donated to Crutchfield at one time or another.

Crutchfield was an Ardmore public school teacher for 28 years before winning the Senate seat. He served as an Ardmore city councilman and mayor and has been involved in numerous local organizations. He's a life member of the National Rifle Association and has been honored for his conservation efforts. In 2001, the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association named him its Legislator Of The Year and the Oklahoma Troopers Association did the same in 2002.

Share |