Published: September 24, 2009 11:12 pm      

Official: SQ 744 would force release of 8,400 inmates

OKLAHOMA CITY — Some $850 million in state government budget cuts would result in the early release of 8,400 inmates, delays in needed bridge repairs and fewer options for addicts, lawmakers heard Thursday.

The revelations were made during the second day of a two-day legislative study requested by Rep. Randy McDaniel, R-Edmond, and Rep. Leslie Osborn, R-Tuttle, to examine the potential effects of State Question 744.

Rep. Ken Miller, R-Edmond, chairman of the House Appropriations and Budget Committee, led round two of the study. On Tuesday, lawmakers heard a bleak budget forecast and from supporters of the measure, which will be on the ballot next year.

Passage would require the state to provide funding for public schools at or above the regional average — an estimated $850 million, monies supporters say has been needed for too long.

DUELING DATA

The Oklahoma Education Association cites data that ranks Oklahoma No. 42 in teacher pay and No. 46 in per pupil spending ($7,615), while the regional average is $9,078 and the national average is $9,963.

During the morning session at the state Capitol, Brandon Dutcher, vice president for policy at the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, a conservative think tank, disputed the state’s figure for per pupil spending, and offered an alternative — $10,942.

“My sincere hope this morning is that people in this room will from this moment on ponder the question: Is $11,000 enough?” said Dutcher, an Edmond resident.

Dutcher said the data cited by the OEA was from the National Center for Education Statistics, which collects, analyzes and makes available data related to education in the U.S. and other countries.

“The official data badly understates the true cost of education in Oklahoma,” Dutcher said. “When computing expenditures, the government’s school accounting systems simply exclude many significant costs. They just exclude ’em.”

Dutcher said examples include education spending that comes from dedicated, directed revenue that bypasses the Legislature and goes straight to the public education system, and retirement benefits that should be counted as a cost in the year incurred.

Following the meeting, Joel Robison, OEA associate executive director, said to create a new definition of per pupil spending would not be useful, and that an “apples to apples” comparison is needed.

Robison said he disputes the projected $850 million budget cut premise on the grounds of zero budget growth. Robison said he is more bullish on the future and he believes the state will continue to see a growth rate of about 5.2 percent annually.

State Treasurer Scott Meacham gave the committee a gloomy budget forecast, saying the Legislature can expect a “very tough” economy heading into fiscal year 2011.

OCPA research fellow Steve Anderson said Oklahoma has a heavy administrative load at the state and local level. Anderson said the problem is not that the state does not spend enough money, but how the money is allocated. A lot of money that flows to the classroom is not counted, he said.

“I think when we look at our per pupil expenditures we need to look at it honestly, and I think that’s really the big question,” Anderson said.

The OCPA figure for per pupil spending in the state is unchallengeable, he said. Anderson said the Legislature could make accounting changes to add the missing monies.



State agencies report

Neville Massey, executive assistant to the director for the Department of Corrections, said if the DOC were forced to cut $101.7 million the cash-strapped agency would have little flexibility left.

The DOC would be forced to close up to nine facilities and potentially release 8,400 inmates, Massey said. Additionally, the agency would have to ensure that the inmate population remained at the reduced level, she said.

The system is driven by the number of offenders, either by releasing them on the back end, or controlling the number that come in on the front end, Massey said. Inmates released would not be solely low-level offenders, she said.

Cuts to the mental health budget would likely mean more inmates, Massey said.

Mental Health Commissioner Terri White, an Edmond resident, said 600-900 Oklahomans currently are on waiting lists for substance abuse services, and all of the beds are full.

“When we talk about cuts of $40 million it gets very, very scary,” White said of the potential loss for the State Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.

Harmful effects could include significant increases in the number of individuals entering the state’s prison system, in the number of addicts who want treatment but cannot get it, in attempted youth suicides and in school dropouts, White said. Recent gains in mental health would be lost, she said.

Oklahoma Department of Transportation Director Gary Ridley said ODOT was asked to study a potential annual $42 million budget cut.

Ridley said his agency would be unable to sell $150 million in bonds as planned next year because it could not cover the debt service to retire those bonds. The net result would be about a $395 million hit on ODOT’s eight-year program, about 25 percent of total state funds dedicated to construction.

It would equal funds for about 197 bridges in the program that wouldn’t be built, Ridley said. Motorist safety would also be adversely affected, he said.

Robison said it is advantageous for those who oppose SQ 744 to present doomsday scenarios. Once again he repeated his belief that in coming years there will be sufficient revenue growth.

Representatives from the Health Care Authority, the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Human Services, the State Regents for Higher Education and the OEA were also scheduled to speak.

If approved by voters in 2010, SQ 744 would repeal an antiquated section of the state Constitution, which requires the Legislature annually to spend $42 for each student in the state’s public school systems. It would add a new article to the Constitution, setting a minimum average amount the state must spend annually on public schools.

An OCPA study of school spending is available at www.ocpathink.org. For another view, visit www.okea.org.



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