Nov
23
Government transparency only works when the data provided is accurate. If we didn’t know that before, we’re certainly finding out now through stimulus reporting.
From phantom Congressional districts to phantom jobs, the reporting of the stimulus funds is showing that the press, taxpayers and advocacy groups like OFRG are willing to look into what government is telling us to determine what is true. It certainly appears from what we are seeing now that the reports of the number of jobs created or saved cannot be trusted. If the problems being reported in Oklahoma are being repeated in every state, the number could be overstated by thousands or tens of thousands or more. There’s just no way of knowing.
But at least we know for sure that the 640,000 jobs reported as being created is overstated.
Nov
20
The case for cuts
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With Senate Republicans calling for a special session next month, it looks much more likely that lawmakers will be called to the Capitol at some point before the regular session begins in February. If that does happen, lawmakers need to focus on what got Oklahoma into the mess its in right now. And it’s not just a question of revenue.
As we pointed out earlier this month, state appropriations have increased by 33% over the last 5 years from roughly $5.4-billion in FY 2005 to $7.2-billion in FY 2010 when stimulus funds are included. That rate of spending far exceeds the inflation rate over the same period which is less than 15%. If state spending had only grown by 15% over the last five years, the FY 2010 appropriation would only be $6.2-billion this year which would mean little if any cuts would be needed. Spending, not revenue, is the problem.
As such, any solution should first look at reducing what the state is spending. Yes, the state has a savings account and additional stimulus funds, but that revenue is going to be needed for FY 2011 which will be based on far lower revenue estimates and FY 2012 when stimulus funds will no longer be available.
If there is going to be a special session to deal with the budget, it canNOT be simply to plug holes with stimulus or Rainy Day funds. That would only delay - not solve - the problem.
Lawmakers also can’t rely on simply asking agency heads what cuts they can handle, either. We’ve already seen the Regents for Higher Education and the State Board of Education request budget increases totaling almost $400-million for next year. Every appropriation needs to be scrutinized and cuts made. It will not be an simple process and the decisions won’t be easy. But in the best interest of Oklahoma’s future, more cuts need to be made.
Nov
19
More priorities?
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It’s been nine months this week since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) was passed. It took $787-billion in borrowed money to “jump-start the economy to create and save jobs.”
A provision in the act required for all the spending to be listed on a website. The federal recovery website is a bit cumbersome to use at times, but luckily some groups have taken it upon themselves to make more user-friendly versions. One of those is stimuluswatch.org/2.0/ which makes the data much more easily viewed by the public, allowing all of Oklahoma’s spending to be accessed.
Through that website, we found some examples of some university research funding that at least makes you wonder whether it should be included in a stimulus package. This is not to say that the research is not needed, only whether it rises to the level of getting federal stimulus dollars aimed at helping the country get through a recession:
$73,210 A longitudinal analysis of gender, youth assets and adolescent substance use
$273,219 Collaborative Research: Human-induced Phenotypic Variation in an Endemic Livebearing Fish
$199,978 Constraining the Deglaciation of the Antarctic Peninsula Using OSL Dated Beach Deposits
$1,150,566 From Their Perspective Alaskan Grandparents’ Roles, Strengths, and Needs
$237,537 New Approaches to Unraveling the Climatic and Sea-Level History of the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico
Those 10 research projects alone total over $4-million in stimulus funds.
Nov
19
OFRG participated in a conference call this week hosted by the White House Office of Public Engagement to let the president’s accountability and reform team get in touch with groups from around the country working in those areas. The two featured speakers were Norm Eisen, Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform and Beth Noveck, Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Open Government.
The first portion of the call had Eisen and Noveck talking about the President’s initiatives and executive orders which they say are providing a more open government. This focused mostly on new rules regarding lobbyists, how information is being released and how to get more people involved in bringing ideas to government.
There was time for only a few questions from participants. The first from Common Cause California wondered if the president has a legislative agenda that would deal with campaign finance reform. Eisen responded that the focus so far has been getting the Executive branch in order first.
The Alliance for Democracy asked about “the continuation of imperial activity” and shifting resources from foreign wars to domestic needs. Eisen responded that the question wasn’t really what the conference call was about, but added that from a transparency perspective, lobbyists representing foreign powers are included in all disclosures. Noveck commented that foreign governments are following the trend of openness and looking to the U.S. for ways to do that.
Common Cause Ohio questioned why the Obama administration has not more aggressively addressed what it calls the politicization of the Department of Justice under the Bush administration. Eisen again said that particular issue is not in his area of expertise, but he then added that every hire made by the Obama administration will be based on merit, experience and qualifications.
D.C. Watch asked how the effort by the White House will reach down to state and local governments to make them more open. Additionally the question about tracking stimulus dollars was raised. D.C. Watch also wondered if a mandate for transparency as a condition of receiving a federal grant would be a good idea. Eisen responded that the conference call itself is one way to help coordinate open government. He added that the White House is trying many pilot programs dealing with transparency that will lead to better systems all over the country. Noveck added that states have played a fundamental role in how stimulus money is being tracked. She says you can also go to the Innovation Gallery page at www.whitehouse.gov/open that showcases some of the best accountability practices at the federal level and will include some state and local ones, too.
West Virginia Citizens for Clean Elections asked about the increasing amount of money involved in politics, including by third-party groups, and what the Obama administration thinks about what she says is the U.S. Supreme Court striking down laws that would provide more transparency and disclosure in elections. Eisen answered that the President has “always been vigilant and concerned about the issue and will remain so.”
The call then wrapped up with Eisen and Noveck promising this will be the first of many such calls.
Nov
18
While most agencies received budget cuts of around 7% this year, Common Education (K-12) actually saw a budget increase of 1.6% thanks to federal stimulus funds. So far this year, every state agency, including Common Education, has has their monthly allocations cut by 5% because of revenue shortfalls. This has led to the State Board of Education voting on a resolution asking Governor Henry to call a special session now and use Rainy Day funds to fill in the gaps in education spending.
Taking all of this into account, you would think that the State Board of Education would submit a budget proposal that would, at worst, ask for the same amount of money as it got this year. You would be wrong.
In what State Superintendent Sandy Garrett calls a “bare-bones budget” request, the State Board is asking for a budget increase of $225-million. That represents an 8.7% increase over the current year’s appropriation!
As we mentioned when the Regents for Higher Education also requested a significant increase in funding, an agency budget request is like a child’s Christmas list: you ask for 10 things you want in the hope that you’ll get five.
But the public perception is that the State Board of Education is out of touch with reality. When the state can’t even meet its current budget obligations, why approve a budget request calling for $225-million more?
At least one State Board member saw that reasoning. Tim Gilpin of Tulsa voted for the resolution calling for a special session, but against the budget request that asked for an extra $225-million.
Nov
17
Priorities?
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While browsing the federal Recovery.gov website, we found a list of the stimulus grants in Oklahoma given by the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities:
$50,000 to the Tulsa Opera
$25,000 to the Tulsa Oratorio Chorus
$306,800 to the Oklahoma Arts Council which so far has given out five grants worth $28,360 each to: the Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa, the Black Liberated Arts Center in Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma City Ballet, Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park and Red Earth.
Nov
16
OFRG received an interesting e-mail today:
The White House invites you, as a state or local government reform leader, to participate in an introductory call with our government accountability and reform team. We are scheduling the call as part of our ongoing effort to get to know experts around the country and to exchange ideas with them for making government ethical, transparent and accountable.
It’s interesting to see the White House reaching out to groups that deal with government transparency and accountability. We hope this is a signal that the federal government will become more open to taxpayers. Check back with the blog later in the week for an update on what was discussed during the call.
Nov
12
The problem is the spending
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When you think about it, 2005 was not all that long ago. Oklahoma still has the same Governor as it did then. Many current legislators were in office then, as well. The state’s budget, though, looks much different.
The FY 2005 budget appropriated $5.4-billion dollars to state agencies. The 2010 budget appropriated $7.2-billion when stimulus dollars are included. That’s a 33% increase in just five years.
Had that increase been a “modest” 20% instead, the appropriation would be around $6.5-billion or $700-million less than it is now. That’s more money than is in the Rainy Day Fund.
You can’t go back and change history, but we should learn from it. The state’s budget shouldn’t be growing at twice the rate of inflation or more.
Nov
10
Still bad, just not as bad
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The State Treasurer’s Office has released the revenue collections figures from October. Collections are down about 18% which is bad, but considering it’s been down around 25% for the first three months of the fiscal year, Treasurer Scott Meacham says the state may have hit bottom.
Still, the state is short $471-million for the current fiscal year. Meacham says it looks like the current fiscal year will run a deficit of roughly $600-million. Add into that the $243-million in additional cuts to state agencies plus the more than $150-million in cash reserves used that have to be paid back and the state is looking at a $1-billion shortfall according to House Speaker Chris Benge.
That has Benge and Senate President pro tem Glenn Coffee calling on state agencies to plan for additional cuts. OFRG agrees and has been calling for steeper cuts all summer. Before a single dollar of Rainy Day money or additional stimulus dollars are used, taxpayers deserve to know that every state agency is operating efficiently. Conflicting messages are being sent when we hear of programs set to shut down and furloughs ordered, yet also hear of pay raises given and state government adding over a thousand jobs in the last year.
As difficult as this year is, next year could be just as difficult and lawmakers may need Rainy Day Funds and stimulus money to avoid drastic cuts in the 2011 and 2012 budgets. It simply makes sense to make smaller cuts now instead of larger cuts later.
Nov
9
The State Treasurer’s office will release the revenue figures from October tomorrow and they are not expected to be much different from the first three months of the fiscal year.
In the latest edition of Open Debate, OFRG talked with State Treasurer Scott Meacham about the state’s financial situation. He says from a financial standpoint a special session won’t be needed. The state will have enough of a cash flow to make it to the legislative session. Meacham also warned against calling for a special session to deal with single budget items because “fixing” one problem may only make it harder to fix a problem that comes up a few months from now.
OFRG agrees with Treasurer Meacham that a special session is not needed. We also agree with his Open Debate comments on changes needed to the Rainy Day Fund.
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