sq744

From Oklahomans for Responsible Government:

According to the database at the Oklahoma County Election Board, [Campaign Manager] Michael Kolenc registered to vote on October 11, three days AFTER the deadline to register for tomorrow’s election. Ethics Commission reports show he’s had an Oklahoma City address since February when he started getting paid as a consultant, yet he apparently didn’t care enough about Oklahoma to register to vote to make his voice heard in the primaries or the General Election! Yes on 744 has two other carpet-baggers as consultants, spokesman Walton Robinson and Matt Nappe. Robinson started getting paid in March and registered to vote on September 5th. Nappe came on board in July and registered on October 6th, two days before the deadline.

Jamison Faught over at Muskogee Politico made an interesting post yesterday with graphics showing how low Oklahoma ranks in budget size compared to the regional average. I want to expand on it a little.

On a per capita scale, Oklahoma has a budget of $1925.65 per year. (Populations based of of July 2009 Census Bureau estimates.)

Colorado: $3661.88
New Mexico: $7314.63
Texas: $3389.52
Arkansas: $1488.17
Missouri: $3741.08
Kansas: $4789.36.

That gives us a regional average state budget per capita of $4064.11. That means that Oklahoma's budget per capita is less than half of the average of our surrounding states. So does that mean that our taxes need to double?

From NewsOK:

In a joint statement issued late Wednesday, OU President David Boren and OSU President Burns Hargis voiced their opposition to the state question that is one of 11 measures on the ballot in November.

"Passage could also lead to damaging cuts in courses and programs. We strongly support improved funding for K through 12 education, however, State Question 744 provides no revenue sources to pay for its mandates. Without new revenue sources, it would cause destructive cuts in other vital state services, like higher education, vocational-technical education, highways, law enforcement and medical services. We do not recommend how anyone should vote, but we feel a responsibility to inform Oklahomans about the potential impact of this proposal," the joint statement said.

I'm just curious because of the following exchange in response to this blog post (status updates in reverse chronological order):

Oklahoma Teacher of the Year Heather Sparks wrote an opinion piece for the Oklahoman yesterday, which Oklahomans for Responsible Government found to be misleading. I agree.

I would expect someone that holds the title of Teacher of the Year to at least perform a little rudimentary research prior to asserting that ODOT "scrape[d] together $4.3 billion in new funding for state road and bridge projects."

As OFRG correctly states, that $4.3 billion is part of an 8 year plan. They do not even have the funding guaranteed yet. Additionally, if their funding is cut (which is the most likely scenario in the event that SQ 744 passes), then they lose federal matching dollars in addition to state dollars.

On Sunday, August 29, OETA featured State Question 744 on the Oklahoma Forum. Peter J. Rudy represented OFRG and others who are against it, while Joel Robison represented OEA and those who are for it.

Robison starts off explaining that while all of the campaign rhetoric of politicians purports that education is a priority in Oklahoma, the statistics tell a different story. He says that Oklahoma is last in our region (and 49th in the country) in per pupil expenditures and 48th in teacher pay. However, he and other supporters of SQ 744 fail to acknowledge that Oklahoma is one of the lowest ranked states on cost of living. While you might make more money teaching in other states, you'll also be spending more.

From the Duncan Banner:

Askins and Fallin both noted that without additional revenue to offset SQ 744, it would cause hardship on other state services, such as law enforcement, and also the military bases. Lamb, Corn, Baressi and Paddack also indicated that with a projected $1 billion plus revenue shortfall, SQ 744 isn’t something that will work at this time. They did all agree that more funding is needed, but not in the manner proposed.

As many of you who read this probably realize, I am VERY STRONGLY against State Question 744. I'm glad to see that both gubernatorial candidates are coming out against it.

Supporters of Oklahoma's State Question 744 have a so-called fact-checking site. (They don't deserve an ounce of linkjuice from me.)

I have never seen a political website so full of blatant half-lies. I call them half, because technically they are true, but really they are lies.

For example, the website states that "SQ 744 does not mandate cuts in other state services." Technically they're right, it doesn't mandate cuts in state services. The website also says that "SQ 744 DOES NOT impose or raise any taxes." Once again, technically they're right.

From the Tulsa World:

The composite scores have remained fairly static since 2006, improving only .2 points between 2006 and 2007 and remaining steady since then, according to the ACT organization's annual Condition of College and Career Readiness report for 2010. The same is true for the national composite score, which has varied only a few tenths of a point from its current average of 21.0 since 2006.

Now, proponents of State Question 744 will likely tell you that this is exactly why we need to increase education spending (while likely crippling the rest of the budget). However, this graphic from the Andrew J. Coulson of the Cato Institute shows otherwise:

According to a study by the Oklahoma Policy Institute, the pricetag for State Question 744 (if it passes in November) will be $1.7 billion.  If you want to know more, check out the post at Oklahomans for Responsible Government.

Now, once you get past the price tag, remember that it has no funding source. This means that the State of Oklahoma will either have to raise taxes or cut services to make up for that shortfall, in addition to the shortfall created for 2012 by the 2011 budget. By the way, your legislators will NOT control Oklahoma's budget.