Fixing the past is today’s obstacle
POINT OF VIEW |
In 2005, voters handed Republicans control of the Oklahoma House of Representatives for only the second time in history. The state’s transportation system was crumbling, our prison system was dangerously overcrowded, and the Capitol building was falling apart after decades of neglect. Oklahoma had a noncompetitive income tax rate and possibly the worst-funded public pension system in the nation.
Republicans also inherited an education system where too many dollars weren’t going to the classroom and teacher salaries, and student outcomes needed improvement. That first year, House Republicans gave our schools an immediate increase of $168 million, and education remains one of our highest priorities more than a decade later.
From 2007 through 2015, funding for preK-12 schools increased more than $136.8 million (5.83 percent), while many other state agencies received cuts of more than 25 percent. Beginning in 2012, Republicans increased common education funding a total of nearly $207 million over three years, and last year, despite a budget shortfall of $611 million, local schools received no budget cut.
Today, 51 percent of the state budget is dedicated to education, with almost 35 percent going to preK-12 schools. Between state appropriations and local and federal sources, our preK-12 education system received a record $8.2 billion for the current fiscal year, the most in state history, which includes nearly $300 million for the teachers retirement system.
Reforming our pension systems is a national success story. This past decade, Republicans stopped the bleeding from years of robbing the system. All seven retirement systems are now on the road to solvency, protecting commitments to current and future retirees.
In 2005, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation budget was the same as in 1985. Annual funding for transportation was less than $180 million and Oklahoma had nearly 1,200 structurally deficient bridges. To correct this mismanagement, Republicans more than doubled funding for infrastructure this past decade. We have now appropriated over $2 billion for state roads and bridges and pumped an additional $1 billion into county roads and bridges. That’s $3 billion that could have been used to increase teacher pay, improve rural health systems and put more money back into the pockets of hardworking taxpayers.
Additionally, we face a crisis in state prisons. Funding is critical but won’t solve structural problems in criminal justice. In 2013, we passed the Justice Reinvestment Initiative to reduce repeat offenders and lower crime rates. Since then we continued this effort, passing reforms and providing resources to lock up the most dangerous criminals.
After 10 years implementing conservative ideas, we are making progress on nearly 100 years of mismanagement and failed policies. Despite these obstacles, House Republicans will continue making tough decisions and promote ideas that allow the private sector to create better jobs, make our state more prosperous and provide better opportunities for Oklahomans. We will focus on new efficiencies, continue to fund and improve our schools, restore state infrastructure and make Oklahoma families safer. This is how we will leave Oklahoma — in a better place than we found it.
MISPLACED PRIORITIES
When our leadership priorities are museums over mental health, energy over education and turnpikes over teachers, it’s time for the citizens of Oklahoma to choose new leaders! Each and every voter has a choice to make at the polls in November. It is up to us to elect senators and representatives who will choose people over projects.
NEED TO DIVERSIFY
Oklahoma and Michigan go together like pan and oven mitt. Both have experienced economic busts within the past 10 years. Michigan has recovered soundly, yet Oklahoma is still struggling. The state should learn from Michigan’s recovery by diversifying its energy sector. Efforts to diversify Michigan’s economy have resulted in long-term stability. Motor vehicle and parts manufacturing filled just 7.6 percent of the state’s GDP in 2012 compared with 12.8 percent in 2000, according to a 2015 report by the Mackinac Center