State Question 744: A Major Wreck for Oklahoma.

I usually write these columns pretty carefully and try real hard not to blast through the door with guns blazing so as not to offend a reader. But, this one is gonna be different. As Marvin Crabtree used to say “take a deep seat and a long, distant look cowboy because this deal is for real”. State question 744 sounds real good if you say it real fast and it is going to be sold to you, the voter, as another one of those “for the kids” deals. And, who is not for the kids? We all are. If you are already bristled up, ready to jump on me, you better pack a lunch because I am telling you “SQ744 will lay waste to the Oklahoma budget”. Oh, it will put more money in education all right, but at the expense of what? That is the question. This year alone, if 744 would have been in place, it would have required us to put an additional $800 million into common education. Great for education, but where do you want to make the extra cuts? Senior nutrition, roads and bridges, healthcare? You pick a category. There would have been another $800 million taken away and forced to go into education. Again, I am going to reiterate that I am not against education. I spent 13 years as a high school teacher, I was educated in public school and my kids go to public school. I am absolutely for education. This state question, if it passes, will be extremely detrimental to everything else in the state budget. This year, education received the smallest cuts of any state agency. We try hard to take care of education. We want schools to be able to function and function well. But, we have a responsibility to spend your tax dollars responsibly.

I can already hear some of you saying that this is just a Republican rant. But, there have been many top Democrat state officials who have openly voiced there opposition to SQ744 as well. Lieutenant Governor, Jari Askins, called SQ744 “well-intentioned” but said that it would “hurt other areas of education such as early childhood and career tech”. “It would also erode dollars for higher education putting more pressure on students and tuition and fees would increase too”, Askins said (Tulsa World, 2010). State Attorney General, Drew Edmondson, opposes SQ744 and questions whether the measure would be enforceable. “Money to fund it would come from the budgets of other agencies” he said (Tulsa World, 2010). Even Governor Brad Henry weighed in when he told The Daily Oklahoman (2010) that he opposes SQ744. “I suspect right now that the initiative will not pass” Henry said. He goes on to say “if it looks like it has momentum and may pass, I may speak out more publicly than I already have”. Three of the highest ranking Democrats in our state very openly opposed. Here is what Senate Pro Tempore, Glenn Coffee, had to say. He called SQ744 “one of the most dangerous things ever to go on the Oklahoma ballet.” “It is going to force incredibly difficult decisions if it were to pass”. “It would force cuts in other parts of government with no easy ability to recover those revenues” he said. House Speaker, Chris Benge, also weighed in and said “it would be devastating to the state budget.” “$850 million is either going to be done by tax increases or cuts to areas like healthcare and it should be noted that just because you are against 744, it doesn’t mean that you are against education” he went on to say (Oklahoma City Friday, 2010).

Here are just a few highlights of what could happen under SQ744, should it pass. It could bring massive reductions in state funding for state officials at all levels, and would likely destroy rural fire departments and rural economic programs. If you think it is hard to keep REAP funded now, wait and see what happens if this measure passes. So, I am encouraging you to vote no on SQ744. I know that there are those of you who say that we do not adequately fund education. But, understand, the state budget is a much bigger picture than any one single agency. In good times, we try our best to make sure that education is adequately funded. In bad times, such as we have had this year, we try very hard to spare our educational system from cuts that are so deep that they cause detriment to the business of educating our kids. This year, many agencies were cut deep while education faired pretty well considering the situation.