Oklahoma Legislature has $188M Less to Spend Then the Original $170M

Why am I not surprised that the amount for the legislature to budget is less not up?  That means the garbage some Republicans have been feeding the Oklahoma taxpayers that the legislature would have more to spend was wrong.  Note that it is due in large part to Corporate Income Tax Collections.  Yet the Republicans refuse to budge on raising the horizontal drilling tax from 1% back to 7% where it was originally when in the early 90's they decided oil and gas needed a tax break on horizontal drilling. Excuse me but that industry is recording record profits today yet the tax is still 1% and has not been raised.

But then, I want to know why the prices at the pump here in Oklahoma are skyrocketing since the people at the local 7/11 are as shocked as the consumer.  No one has come up with a good explanation except the guy behind me in line said Northern Keystone Pipeline -- raise all our prices at the pump to declare they will come down with the Northern Keystone approved.  Do I believe he could be correct -- you betcha.

The truth is out -- $17M less for the OK Legislature to spend then was projected in December -- OOPS!  Will someone tell the legislature to quit passing social conservative bills that the taxpayers have to foot the bill for defending in court?  At the same time tell the current Attorney General Pruitt to quit wasting our tax dollars on trying to overturn the Affordable Care Act -- not happening and tired of wasted money on a pipedream of the hard right.   

February 18, 2014 

Okla. Legislature to have $188M less to spend 

Associated Press 

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Legislature will have even less revenue to appropriate this year for state services than initially projected, in large part due to volatile corporate income tax collections. 

A state board headed by Gov. Mary Fallin on Tuesday certified $6.9 billion in available revenue for the Legislature to spend on state programs for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

That amount is more than $188 million less than the Legislature appropriated on state services last year, and $17 million less than was projected in December.

Finance officials say the main reason for the sharp decline since December is a decrease in the estimate on corporate income tax collections, and Fallin asked two members of the board to develop recommendations for better estimating those figures

That doesn't even account for the fact that Governor Fallin and the legislature want a tax cut to keep up with Kansas.  How is that working out for Kansas BTW -- not well but why let that stand in the way of an ALEC Tax Cut? From the Oklahoma Policy Institute comes this article about Kansas Economic Growth -- not exactly a glowing picture and makes you ask why would Fallin and the GOP want Oklahoma to be like Kansas?

Annie McKay is Executive Director of the Kansas Center for Economic Growth (KCEG). This post previously appeared on the KCEG blog. 

Ever since Kansas enacted substantial income tax cuts in 2012 and 2013, we have eagerly awaited the prosperity and Texas-sized job growth that we were promised would be spurred by these changes. 

Unfortunately, our efforts to be like Texas aren’t paying off for most Kansans. In fact, after two years of tax cuts:

• The vast majority of Kansans aren’t seeing their paychecks grow.

• Surrounding states that held the line on income taxes are doing better than Kansas.

• The jobs we are adding aren’t lifting Kansans out of poverty.

Back in November, we heard from the experts who estimate revenues for the state. The bad news? They scaled back earlier expectations of personal income growth in the state for the coming three years. It’s now expected to be below the national average all three years. Where else has this pattern occurred? In states that significantly reduced their incomes taxes in the 1990s and early 2000s. 

Recently, Kansans have been told that we’re adding 1,000 private jobs per month, but that’s hardly something to celebrate. It’s less job growth than we’ve seen in surrounding states, where income taxes were not cut. Once again, we trail the national average for job growth. The dismal results for Kansas were predictable: They repeat the sluggish job growth in states that cut income taxes in the 1990s and early 2000s. 

Read More

President of The University of Oklahoma David Boren has weighed in on the Gov Fallin tax cuts -- you could say that President Boren speaks for a lot of Oklahoma taxpayers who believe in education. We just passed two schools bond issues here in Norman by a sizeable percentage so the home of The University of Oklahoma is very pro-education -- shame a lot of the rest state is not or our legislature would not even consider more cuts to education at any level after Oklahoma leads the nation in cutting education since 2008 when the Republicans took over the legislature with cuts of well over 20%.

From The OK Policy Institute:

Fallin’s tax cuts and lack of funding for higher education also led University of Oklahoma President David Boren to write that both policies are a mistake. 

"Can we afford another tax cut when we can't give another tax cut without cutting vital services?" - University of Oklahoma President David Boren. 

Boren told the Tulsa World residents need to start asking, "what kind of state do we want to be? Who are we as a people? I don’t think we want ignorance and lack of opportunity to be our legacy.” 

Boren points out in the 1970s state funding made up about half of OU's budget. It is now down to 17 percent, resulting in what he calls a privatization of public higher education.
He is says he is also concerned colleges and universities have to make tough decisions about whether to keep quality programs or start offering narrow opportunities for students. 

Had one person tell me after President Boren's editorial in the Tulsa World that is just OU but it is not just OU, as an OSU economics professor weighed in on Gov Fallin touting Tax Cuts to the OKC Chamber or as some of us like to say -- the ALEC Agenda:

The governor also says such cuts attract more jobs and companies to Oklahoma. 

But the evidence for such an economic boost is thin, according to a guest blog post for the Oklahoma Policy Institute by Oklahoma State University economist Dan Rickman:

“Evidence from my own studies and those of many others suggests that adjustments in state and local taxes and spending can, at most, spark marginal gains in economic performance. Across the United States in recent decades, states and localities have adopted more similar tax and spending policies, leaving less room for improvement.” 

Rickman’s research also indicates Fallin’s statements that the evidence shows income tax cuts boost overall revenues to government is without backing.

“Crucially, there is no evidence that tax cuts pay for themselves by boosting future growth and tax collections. For public officials, there is no escape from carefully considering how various balances of taxes and spending affect both government budgets and surrounding economies.” 

Both of our Major Universities know that education cannot continue to take these cuts to higher education along with cuts to public education.  Why would the Governor Fallin push more tax cuts which will lead to less funding for education at all levels?  Being stubborn is not becoming to a Governor.  It makes no common sense and hasn't from day one why with less dollars to spend the Governor and some of the legislature want more tax cuts?  How beholden are they to ALEC who writes a lot of bills as we see the same wording for bills in various states.   Have Republicans become that devoid of independent thinking?  Sure looks like it in Oklahoma from a lot of the bills submitted in this legislature.   With over 2,000 bills submitted in the Legislature, it makes your head swim at how such a small state can be so over governed by a Party who is for smaller Government.

Just shake my head and hope in November of this year, we can start to take the State of Oklahoma back to Common Sense!

Governor Fallin Threatens Public School Funding, Over Opposition by Local Superintendents to State's System of Grading Schools

UPDATE:  11/5/2013:  After a host of parents and educators went through the roof at the threat of Gov Fallin pulling school funding, the comments were updated:

Gov. Mary Fallin’s spokesman Alex Weintz said some have misconstrued comments he made earlier this week to the Tulsa World as a “threat” to educators to stop criticizing the A-F grading system. 

“Gov. Fallin has not and will not threaten (additional state) funding for schools based on opposition to the A-F grading system,” he said in a written statement released Tuesday.
In a Tulsa World story published Sunday, Weintz said Fallin wanted to warn educators that continued criticism of the A-F school grading system could affect whether public schools get additional state funding for fiscal year 2015. 

Educators and parents statewide interpreted that as a threat by the governor to stop criticizing the A-F grading system or forfeit additional state funding next year to help fill a $200 million-plus budget shortfall from cuts made during the recession.

Where is Gov Fallin to speak to the media and answer these questions instead of sending out a handwritten comment?  She got caught and she knows it so she is avoiding the media, educators, and parents.  IMHO she meant what was said and backtracked when she got caught.

******

Governor Fallin says that the new grading system is "the law" and therefore we need to accept it regardless of whether we like it or not. However, Obamcare is also "the law" yet she does not accept it because she does not like it. Aren't we as a people just following the example of our leaders in regard to following "the law"?  Jody, Tulsa World

What can you say when you read this except that ALEC has taken over the Governor's Office of the State of Oklahoma when the Governor's Spokesman disses the report from the two major state universities -- University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.  Guess the Governor and the State School Superintendent know better then the two recognized university staffs who prepared the report or our local school superintendents:

Gov. Fallin counters critics of A-F system for grading schools

Strong opposition to the state's system of grading schools may hurt funding, the governor says.By KIM ARCHER World Staff Writer  

Related Documents:

Oklahoma A-F report Read a report from University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University researchers analyzing Oklahoma's A-F grading system. 

Gov. Mary Fallin is warning educators that continuing public criticism of the state's A-F school grading system may affect whether common education gets additional funding next fiscal year. 

"It's not helpful to anyone's cause. It seems to be some opponents are absolutely bent on undermining the credibility of the entire system," said Fallin spokesman Alex Weintz. 

"The fact of the matter is this grading system, regardless of whether or not you believe it should have been put together differently, is the law." 

Last week state Superintendent Janet Barresi unveiled her education budget request for fiscal year 2015, in which she is asking for an additional $174.9 million for a total of $2.5 billion. On the same day, the governor's office spoke out on the A-F issue, urging education supporters to get behind the grading system and stop endorsing a report that criticizes it.

The A-F grades for schools across the state are expected to be released this week.
Weintz said the governor is "dismayed" to see groups representing the education community touting a report issued by researchers at University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University as a way to wage a campaign against A-F.

Do you know how stupid they sound saying the A-F school grading system is the "law" no matter if you agree or not when we live in a state that has challenge ACA and is still challenging it when it was passed into law, signed by the President and upheld by SCOTUS.  The Governor and her ALEC Legislature still won't recognize the ACA law but now want to tell all of us that the A-F grading system is the law so sit down and shut up or lose funding.  Sounds pretty dictatorial in my book.  

This part of the article would be funny if not so serious:

Educators statewide have complained that the formula underlying the simple A-F grades is flawed. They point to two analyses by OU and OSU researchers that concluded the formula "has very little meaning and certainly cannot be used legitimately to inform high-stakes decisions." 

Weintz said Fallin disagrees with the latest study and believes its conclusions are harmful to public education.

Fallin will never go down as being one of the smarter Governor's of Oklahoma but like Keating her regard for public education leaves a lot to be desired.  When she thinks she knows more then our two State Universities, there is a real problem and it is not with the report from the Universities.  Two universities who turn out teachers for our public schools are harmful to public education?  What is harmful is being a state owned by ALEC and the Koch Bros with a State School Superintendent that believes in charter schools over public schools.  I know because I got in a fight with one of her disciples about that very issue.

Oklahoma ranks #1 in the Country for cutting school funding by 28% since 2008 and now if schools don't do as they are told the Governor wants to cut them more?  Give me a break!

When you think that Oklahoma's Governor Fallin cannot stoop any lower with Janet Barresi, who is one of the most detested State School Superintendents ever in this state, it happens.  These comments from the Tulsa World article say it all and these are just a few.   Oklahomans are mad starting with the local Superintendents  who are asking for a NO Confidence vote on Barrissi.  Finding her biography was not easy but when you do you find Barrisi was a dentist, speech pathologist, and Board President of Harding Charter Preparatory High School.  She had no executive experience in running a public school just a charter school which was not a well known fact in the election when the hard right Tea Party led the GOP to take all state offices.  Don't know anyone who respects her as state school superintendent except Fallin and her group as Barrisi is dictatorial and refuses to listen to ideas even in meetings.  

These comments from the Tulsa World article sum of what I have heard from educators in my own area of the state:

Fallin apparently has cornflakes for brains. She refuses to expand Medicaid, denying affordable health care to thousands, even though it will be heavily subsidized with federal dollars -- even Republican governors Jan Brewer and John Kasich saw the wisdom of not sending their own taxpayers' federal dollars to other states -- and now she is using fear and extortion -- tools Republicans reach for first -- to threaten school superintendents if they question the failed performance of her girl Barresi. It is time to retire the mistress of Koch Industries to Wichita and elect a governor who is interested in serving the people of Oklahoma. Oklahoma horses will also likely be glad to see her go. (Frank, Tulsa World)

Governor, I am in awe of your threat of possible education funding for our public schools could be halted because of the failure of school administrators not accepting these flawed standards trying to be promoted by your administration. You haven't even tried working with them nor even accepted the analysis of the education professionals from O.U. nor O.S.U. These are educational scientists who RESEARCH educational factors on a daily basis. What does your research say to counter theirs since you discount their assessment?
Also, "grading our public schools" is part of a system that conservatives have initiated throughout our nation to try and privatize our public schools for profit and not necessarily to improve our schools. Hopefully, Oklahomans will begin to recognize this scheme for what it is - dismantling our public school system, a cornerstone of our great democracy! (Ann, Tulsa World)

In other words Fallin is so dedicated to the destruction of Public education she would throw a bomb and disrespect our Best Educators....these corporate pawns will stoop to any low imaginable..No wonder Johnny cannot read .Just be sure the kids do not learn their science..they would know how bad humans have made the planet in the Name of profit SSSSS  (Jean, Tulsa World)

Alex Weintz make clear that the governor’s agenda is - gut public education funding in a fit of pique, use a flawed grading system and then announce "Public education has failed." , with all that implies. 

I hope she does not pursue this scorched earth approach that the threat of tying funding for the education of Oklahoma’s children to the acquiescence of the adults to a grading plan, flawed or otherwise, seems to imply. To quote Ronald Reagan “Freedom is the right to question and change the established way of doing things." I can hope the governor realizes she has overplayed her hand on this, comes down on the side of freedom and backs away from Mr. Weintz’s statements.  (Robert, Tulsa World)

This is typical of the Governor to send out her spokesman to say what she thinks rather than talk with the media on where she stands.  Her ties to the Koch Bros and ALEC did me in plus I find more and more I have lost total respect with her stance on education, ACA, women's rights, minority rights, etc. The audacity to say the new grading is the law but the ACA which is the law has to be overturned shows a shallowness and someone who is bought and paid for like so many of our GOP Governor's today.