Senate Review by Senator Randy Brogdon

Senate Review
by Senator Randy Brogdon

February always brings a new legislative session, and Oklahomans look to legislators once again to achieve the people’s business. Serving District 34 and the people of Oklahoma is an honor and a privileged duty. Keeping these thoughts in mind, I enter into this legislative session ready to work for our district.

We’ve just concluded the first week of the 2008 legislative session. As mandated by the Constitution, the first day included a joint session of the House and Senate assembled to receive the governor’s State of the State address and his executive budget.

One of the most important jobs we as legislators have is our Constitutional requirement to write and pass a balanced budget. After looking at the governor’s spending proposals, there will be difficulty in making his plan work.

The State of Oklahoma has an estimated $32 million in additional funds this year compared to 2007. But early in his State of the State address, Governor Henry called for extending the school year by 5 days—an item that would cost Oklahoma taxpayers an additional $90 million. Yet the governor failed to identify where that money would come from.

The governor received great applause when he announced his proposal for a pay increase for state employees that cost about $66 million, but his budget only included $32 million to pay for that raise. I feel the response from the audience would have been much different if they’d known that the governor also proposed cutting the state employee health benefits by $22 million.

In addition, Governor Henry called for borrowing $188 million to fund new projects, but his budget didn’t include any money to make the monthly payments on the new debt.

The governor also failed to mention the commitment we made to taxpayers last session to reduce the state income tax to 5.25 percent. The reduction in tax would save Oklahoma families $45 million to spend on their priorities rather than on politicians’ priorities. With the national economy slowing down, this cut will be critical to ensure Oklahoma families will have more money to spend.

As legislators, we must remember that the money we are appropriating is not our own. It belongs to the taxpayers of this state, and we must base all our financial decisions accordingly. We are elected to responsibly serve the people of Oklahoma, and it would be irresponsible and arrogant to spend every penny in our state funds, and then proceed to adopt plans that will mortgage the futures of all Oklahomans.

Our focus should be to continue working together to streamline government, eliminate waste, and develop a long-range blue print for Oklahoma that will truly create prosperity.

It is an honor to serve you in the in the State Senate. I can be reached by writing to Senator Randy Brogdon, Room 416, State Capitol, 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd, Oklahoma City, OK 73105, or by calling (405) 521-5566, or email at brogdon@oksenate.gov.

Respectfully,

Randy Brogdon

Senate District #34

Assistant Republican Co-Floor Leader