We just wrapped up week 10 of the legislative session, and the big story is the state budget.
Unfortunately, it’s a budget that reflects the priorities of wealthy, well-connected folks, instead of everyday Oklahomans. Our caucus presented many common-sense ideas that could have solved real problems, but those ideas were cast aside.
My big worry is we’ve got a $12.8 billion budget, which represents a slight increase over last year, using a lot of cash to fill in holes. The increases tend to be set asides for politicians’ pet projects, or something that was the product of a backroom deal. For example, I’m talking about $31 million going to PREP projects – that’s a new program, started about four years ago, that’s for district level projects that somehow connect to economic development. The problem is there’s no transparency about how or why projects get picked, plus no clear outcomes we can point to for past funding. That’s not using taxpayer funds to solve real problems.
Meanwhile, we’ve had about $40 million that was cut out of mental health and substance abuse programs, in direct opposition to all the stories I’ve heard this year about mental health needs. Last summer, we heard from people who had gotten sober and totally remade their lives. Some even described becoming peer support specialists to help other people get sober, rebuild their lives, and become contributing members of society. Those are the kind of programs that were cut out of the mental health budget. I’m worried that we’re pushing projects for the wealthy and well-connected but not listening to the stories of people on the ground doing the hard work to improve our communities.
Here’s another example of why this budget is so troubling -- $200 million is being set aside for the governor’s requested savings fund. This money will be going to risky investments.
The “Invest in Oklahoma” program allows direct investments in companies, again with most of us not able to find out the details of which investments get chosen. I’m wondering who is benefiting from this $200 million of taxpayer money being set aside instead of being put to work to take care of challenges we face right now.
Since October, the state cut child care resources by $70 million with 400 plus day cares closing their doors and more bound to follow.
Many Oklahomans won’t be able to work if they don’t have a safe place for their kids to be, leaving working families with really tough decisions to make about their finances. That’s bad for Oklahoma businesses and doesn’t bode well for efforts to attract new ones. Why are we setting aside $200 million instead of investing it in ways that help people work and provide for their families?
Another issue is the “Dream Accounts.”
Republican leaders are setting up $12.5 million for accounts for children born during a specific time period, at about $250 per child, but with absolutely no guidelines as far as income eligibility. Even the wealthiest people in the state will get this money. But consider the difference we could make if we used those funds to modernize child tax credits for those families that need it the most.
Oklahoma has not updated our child tax credit since 2007 – we haven’t kept up with the cost of raising children. This would strengthen families and improve outcomes for thousands of children in our state.
When we look at the trade-offs being made, I’m just concerned that it seems wealthy, well-connected folks are getting their way, and folks working hard every day and still struggling to get by are not being listened to. We’ve got to make sure we have guidelines and an open way of making these decisions that avoids the appearance of corruption. Are we letting hand-picked businesses in the door to make those funding decisions for the state, or are we actually listening to our districts? Oklahoma Senate Democrats are still committed to truly listening and putting people over politics.
If you have any questions or concerns, contact me at 405-521-5636 or Julia.Kirt@oksenate.gov. We want to hear from you. Onward!
