State Of Affairs: Fiscal 'Insanity'

By Jonathan Small/Oklahoma Council Of Public Affairs

 

The weeping and gnashing of teeth continues regarding Oklahoma’s failure to spend money at “pre-recession levels.” Both national and state tax-user advocates are ready to gobble up any future growth in revenue.

If one includes replacement of one-time revenues, it is estimated that growth revenue in Oklahoma over the prior year will be $300 million to $600 million. State agencies have staked their claim to this revenue growth by requesting an increase of more than $1 billion in state appropriations and an increase in personnel of 928 full-time-equivalent employees (above and beyond the excess number we already have). If state agencies get their wish, the state will spend a record $7.5 billion in appropriations for FY-2013 (based on the budget requests that have been submitted to the Office of State Finance).

This is pure insanity. State agency requests exceed even the best estimates by almost $800 million.

Oklahoma citizens have worked hard and generated a better than-the-national-average economy, and the thanks they get are state agencies lining up to gobble up any future growth in revenue. Let’s hope lawmakers, unlike bureaucrats, remember that not a penny of revenue in state coffers was made possible without the hard work of taxpayers. Instead, any revenue growth should be viewed as an opportunity to phase out Oklahoma’s personal income tax.

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OCPA: Majority Favor School Alternatives

From The Oklahoma Council Of Public Affairs ~ The vast majority of Oklahomans favor alternatives to public education such as private or charter schools, according to a public opinion survey.

The survey was released by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice and eight other sponsoring organizations. Similar surveys have been conducted in Idaho, Tennessee, Nevada, Illinois, Georgia, Florida and Arizona.

The survey of 1,200 likely Oklahoma voters shows that, if parents could select any type of school they wanted, more than 40 percent would send their kids to private school, while less than 20 percent would opt for regular public schools - a sharp contrast to the actual numbers.

"Ninety-two percent of students here in the state attend regular public schools," said Paul DiPerna with the Friedman Foundation. "Compare that to what we found in the poll indicating that only 17 percent would send their children to a regular public school. There's a disconnect."

A measure to create a statewide scholarship fund through tax deductible private donations passed the Senate but was defeated in the House last session. Opponents claim that the plan would take money away from public schools, but supporters insist that's not the case, and said they'll try again next session.

"There's an alarm at the gate and we've gotta move now or we're gonna lose many, many more kids," said Rep. Jabar Shumate (D-District 73). "I don't want that to happen under my watch. I can't live with that."

More than 50 percent of those surveyed, including both Democrats and Republicans, favored the concept of school vouchers and charter schools.

DiPerna said the bipartisan support for those programs was greater in Oklahoma than in other states.
Asked to rate the state's public school system by suggested categories, 33 percent rated it "good," 30 percent rated it "fair," 11 percent "poor" and 7 percent "excellent." Nineteen percent were undecided.
Thirty-six percent believe public school funding is "too low," 33 percent "too high" and 31 percent "about right."

Jayme Broome said she couldn't live with seeing her child fail in Tulsa's public school system, and took matters into her own hands. She co-founding a low-tuition private school five years ago and said a scholarship fund is a great idea.

"It allows the parents who really want their children to be successful and want them to be challenged," she said. "It gives them the opportunity to enroll their kids in a school like mine."

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National Review Lauds OCPA Database Push

National Review has lauded the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs for its work in establishing a searchable online database of state contracts and grants.

Here's the publication's report: "One state-based think tank, the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA), has adopted another national idea to the state level and thus started a trend of its own. Inspired by the work of Sens. Tom Coburn (R., Okla.) and Barack Obama (D., Ill.) on the creation of a searchable online database of federal contracts and grants, OCPA began to push the state legislature to do something similar for taxpayers in Oklahoma. Last October, in an op-ed calling for a state-funding website, Coburn and OCPA vice president Brandon Dutcher wrote, 'Many taxpayers… may be aware that their tax dollars have paid for things like rooster shows and ghost employees and $100 car washes, but these things are just the tip of the iceberg.'

"Since then, the idea has met little resistance from state politicians in either party. On March 1st the state senate unanimously approved the creation of the database, and governor Brad Henry, a Democrat, picked up the idea and included it in his State of the State address this year. The idea is gaining popularity in other states as well. OCPA spokesman Brian Hobbs says, 'We pitched the idea at a Center-Right Coalition meeting. It created a buzz there, and word traveled fast.'

"Legislation enacting state versions of the spending database have been introduced in Maryland, Minnesota, and of course, Tennessee."

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