Quotes of the Day

“We understand that it is raining and that is what the Rainy Day Fund was created for.  It will help mitigate the situation to get us through this year. Next year, we still have some tough decisions to make as we prepare our budget.”

– Senate Pro Tem Brian Bingman (R-Sapulpa) on the decision of Gov. Fallin and legislative leaders to tap the Rainy Day Fund for public schools and the Department of Corrections (Source)

“We are in the unfortunate situation of having to eliminate programs, reduce services, regionalize statewide services and close county health department sites to meet the requirements of the revenue reduction. These are steps that are painful, but necessary in the current financial climate. Because of these cuts, we fully expect to see an erosion of the gains we have made in public health during the current decade.”

-State Health Commissioner Terry Cline (Source)

“The cuts are going to come either way either now or next year. But at least if we say the cuts are going to be deeper next year, our schools and hospitals can adjust to those cuts ahead of time and adjust personnel ahead of time.”

-Rep. Scott Inman (D-Del City), arguing that Rainy Day funds should go to the Department of Education and the Oklahoma Health Care Authority

“There won’t be a comprehensive solution go through the Legislature to address the lack of education funding, and there will not be money in the budget to allocate enough to it. Therefore I am supporting the penny sales tax and I urge all Oklahomans to do the same.”

-Sen. Brian Crain (R-Tulsa) (Source)

“I’ve been sick to my stomach. We are going to start spit-balling ideas, but I don’t know if anybody has an absolute, great answer at this point. We’ve got to shift the monkey off the schools’ back and put it back on the Legislature’s back.”

– Wagoner Superintendent Randy Harris, on news of the latest round of mid-year education cuts prompted by the state’s second revenue failure this year, which may lead to a four-day school week for Wagoner students (Source)

“Are we going to kick 111,000 people off healthcare or are we going to be brave, because I think that’s about all this amounts to. Are we going to be brave enough to stand up for the least among us or are we going to give in to the people that control this building? What in the world are we doing?”

– Rep. James Lockhart (D-Heavener), speaking on the House floor against HB 2665, which would remove Medicaid eligibility for the very low-income parents of dependent children in an attempt to generate savings in the state budget. The bill passed the House 65-34 (Source). 

“In a perfect example of how local politics has the most impact, the Oklahoma House passed a bill requiring public schools teach that abortion is killing a human being. No one probably noticed because most voters were focused on the presidential race. Now, pay attention to what’s happening at the Capitol.”

-Tulsa World columnist Ginnie Graham (Source)

“If you remove all the agencies that deal with core services and then eliminated everything else altogether, you’d only close the budget gap by about $500 million — less than half of the shortfall. That means education, which gets about half of the budget, could face a budget cut of $400 million. Other core services would be cut as well. And when all is said and done, every man, woman and child in the state will be negatively affected.”

-Sen. Mike Mazzei (R-Tulsa), who called for eliminating tax breaks, pausing off-the-top increases to roads funding, and delaying an income tax cut to help deal with Oklahoma’s $1.3 billion budget shortfall (Source)

“When we take kids away from their homes and communities, we owe their families and communities a promise we’re going to keep them safe. If we can’t do that, we don’t need to take them into our care or custody.”

-Brenda V. Smith, professor at the Washington College of Law at American University, arguing that Prison Rape Elimination Act standards should apply to juvenile facilities (Source)

“I fear more doctors may leave the state, more Oklahoma hospitals may close and many working Oklahomans will lose vital access to medical care. Accepting federal funds will help prevent more rural communities from suffering the type of loss experienced recently in Sayre and will help rural hospitals transition into the future.”

-Jimmy Leopard, CEO of Wagoner Community Hospital, on his support for an initiative launched yesterday, makeOKbetter, to expand Insure Oklahoma (Source)