Governor to speak out against SQ 744
Gov. Brad Henry, who earlier has said he can’t support State Question 744, is expected Tuesday to make it clear he opposes the passage of the proposal which would require Oklahoma increase its per-pupil expenditure to the average of surrounding states.
The governor is to make his announcement during a news conference set for 11 a.m. Tuesday at the state Capitol.
Henry’s news conference was announced by the spokeswoman for the One Oklahoma Coalition, the campaign working to defeat SQ 744. The issue is one of 11 state questions on the Nov. 2 general election ballot.
Henry has been a leading supporter for public education since he was elected governor eight years ago. However, he could not support SQ 744, a spokesman said earlier.
“Governor Henry does have major concerns about tying the hands of future state leaders by amending the Oklahoma Constitution with specific budget mandates that limit their ability to effectively respond to emergencies and address needs in other areas,” said his spokesman, Paul Sund, in June.
- Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau
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Comments
Gee…I wonder what’s in it for him? He must need a job to pay for that $700,000 house he bought in Edmond. That’s the only reason I can think of for why he might suddenly have a change of heart, since he usually supports education.
It is my understanding that SQ744 would require Oklahoma to spend annually no less than the average amount spent per student by 6 neighboring states. When that average amount spent by these 6 states declines, then Oklahoma must spend what it spent the previous year. In this manner, Oklahoma will always spend an equal or higher amount than previous years. I have a couple concerns- 1) The economic needs in one state or different from those in another state. But, Oklahoma is going to base its spending on the spending priorities of another state. What if Colorado spends $60/student when the other five states spend $45/student? Colorado’s average spending, in this example, will have a large impact on Oklahoma’s spending. Suddenly, Oklahoma doesn’t have control over the appropriate level of education spending in our own state; 2) How is the state going to pay for the potential increase in educational funding needed to comply with this state question? The only two ways to pay more money is by increasing revenues (through increased taxes, fees for government services, etc.) or decrease spending somewhere else (reduced allocations for other state agencies). In our current economic climate a reduction in budgets for state agencies would have a dramatic detrimental effect on the effected agencies and, in some cases, an even more dramatic ripple effect on the level of services provided by these agencies.
@”Sensible”
Another reason might be because it would bankrupt the state (or at least have substantial/detrimental impacts on other gov’t programs). Think about it, forcing expenditures to increase based on the economies of other states without providing for an increase in revenue during a time when our state is struggling financially. I’m all for increasing expenditure on education, but this isn’t the way to do it.
@matt – lol
Hey, just because all the states around us spend more on education than we do dont meen we r a bunch of dummys.