Quotes of the Day

“And anyone who pretends they don’t exist doesn’t know anything about economics. In small towns, how are you going to deal with this? It’s a real problem, especially since total day care space over the years has declined significantly.”

-Jonathan Willner, economics professor at Oklahoma City University, speaking about how Oklahoma schools going to 4-day weeks to cope with budget cuts is likely to harm the economy due to the opportunity costs of parents not being able to work full-time or having to pay much more for child care (Source).

“As we watch the sales tax continue to decline, and certainly, the price of oil, we had better plan for another budget failure this year. Those two indicators alone tell us this is exactly where we were last year.”

-Union Public Schools Superintendent Kirt Hartzler, explaining why his district will be cautious in spending its portion of the $40.2 million that will be returned to schools by mid-October (Source)

“In the public safety arena, we’re at the bottom of the barrel in Oklahoma. The biggest insult the agency has to endure is … anyone making less than $23,800 a year automatically qualifies for food stamps.”

-Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Joe Allbaugh, advocating for a 5 percent raise for his agency’s staff. The typical starting salary for correctional officers is $2,200 per month before taxes (Source)

“We’re going to be paying lawyers instead of teachers… It’s real good politics, it plays well with folks back home, and it gets you votes whether it’s a good idea or not.”

-David Smith, an attorney arguing that the state will face enormous costs to defend against lawsuits if SQ 790 passes (Source) Read our fact sheet on SQ 790.

“All funding has been decreased for substance abuse services in the state, mental health services in the state, all of our diversion courts have been hit, so yeah, it has an impact. We’ve been telling them you can’t continue to not fund core services in your state and act like it’s not going to have an impact.”

-Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater, who said state funding cuts to mental health services and public safety have likely contributed to the county sending 33 percent more women and 5 percent more men to prison in fiscal year 2016 (Source).

“We even got legislation passed to support OCAAVA and make it legal for judges to use the volunteers. The only thing was, they didn’t get funding to support it. So, we struggled along, trained two groups of volunteers who were used by some judges, but we finally had to quit because of a lack of funding.”

-Rowena Scott-Johnson, an 81-year-old McClain County resident who worked for 10 years trying to start an Oklahoma Court Appointed Advocates for Vulnerable Adults program (Source).

“I try not to get overwhelmed by my past, because I know the end result is I go back to prison. And then when you get out, you still owe, but then you owe more.”

-Tim Yarbrough, an Oklahoma City resident who owes more than $5,000 in fines and fees after serving two years in prison for drug possession (Source)

“We keep scouring through the data to find signs of an impending turnaround, but it’s just not there. Some aspects of the August report aren’t as negative as in prior months – a few revenue streams have ticked up slightly – but we can’t yet point to a positive trend.”

-State Treasurer Ken Miller, on a report showing that Oklahoma’s gross tax receipts in August were 4 percent lower than the same month last year (Source)

“These types of investments are not easy. They require us all to be courageous, disciplined, focused, and faithful to ensuring that Oklahoma is highly desired for its quality of life and economic viability. Today, more than ever, we must start investing in a future we may never see.”

-Union Public Schools Superintendent Kirt Hartzler, urging voters to pass SQ 779, the penny sales tax for education (Source). Read our statement on SQ 779 here.

“My frustration is the lack of engagement of the citizens in issues around local and state government. I just think the Legislature represents the voters who happen to be engaged in the process. My concern is with the lack of voter participation. Are people really paying attention?”

– Outgoing Oklahoma Health Care Authority CEO Nico Gomez (Source)