Put Leadership above Politics

By DAVID BLATT
Published: 5/12/2010 

We are at a truly critical time for Oklahoma. The state faces its most severe budget crisis of the past quarter century, perhaps the most severe in its history. As revenues have fallen, successive rounds of budget cuts have created hardships for those whose health, security and livelihood depend on state-funded services.

However, as bad as things have already gotten, we are only now approaching the eye of the full budget storm. In the absence of additional revenues, the state's budget shortfall for the upcoming year is equivalent to cuts of an additional 11 to 12 percent across every agency of state government beyond what has already been cut this year.

It is hard to exaggerate the toll that cuts of this magnitude would have on Oklahoma families, businesses and communities. Adult Medicaid recipients could lose coverage of prescription drugs, diabetes supplies and kidney dialysis treatment. Provider rate reductions could push businesses that serve seniors, people with disabilities and those with mental illness out of business.

Our students face school closures, larger classes, and fewer programs and resources. Similar stories are being told across the spectrum of state government of cuts that would undo progress made in recent years and set our state back years, if not decades.

However, balancing the budget through an exclusive reliance on deeper spending cuts is a choice, not an inevitability.

A balanced approach to the budget gap includes new revenue sources along with budget cuts,
efficiencies, and the use of reserves. The governor initiated the discussion by proposing over $700 million of revenue enhancements in his FY 2011 budget proposal, including eliminating and suspending selected tax credits, increasing tax enforcement capacities, and expanding our bonding authority.

With this revenue, agencies would still be facing additional cuts of 0.5 percent to 3 percent in FY 2011 — still painful, but far from the most devastating scenarios. Other revenue ideas have surfaced from other quarters, including one that our organization has promoted to do away with the deduction of state income taxes for those who itemize on their state tax returns.

With the end of the legislative session fast approaching, the budget remains unsettled. We know that various revenue options are being discussed by legislative leaders and the governor, but that nothing has been decided. While there is general agreement that the consequences of not generating additional revenues would indeed be dire, it is still unclear whether there is sufficient political will to adopt revenue solutions.

There are some at the Legislature who seem positively excited by this opportunity to shrink the size of government, and others who declare themselves open to new revenues in principle, but are quick to oppose any specific attempt to raise a fee or close a tax loophole that risks being politically unpopular.

Some seem eager to stand aside and let the worst happen so they can blame the consequences on their opponents.

In short, if the ultimate budget decisions are left to the mercy of political calculations, the outcome is likely to be little or no additional revenue and the full-fledged budget catastrophe that agencies and advocates have warned of. But that is not the only, or inevitable, outcome. Our elected officials need to hear from their constituents that they expect them to make the difficult decisions necessary to pull us back from the abyss. In this time of crisis, we need our elected officials to lead.

David Blatt is director of the Oklahoma Policy Institute, www.okpolicy.org, which provides information, analysis and ideas on state policy issues.

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/opinion/article.aspx?subjectid=65&articleid=20...