Taking Control of State Spending: You Can Help

Capitol Considerations by Senator Micheal Bergstrom

Taking Control of State Spending

When it came to the state's budget this past session, whether it was in the phone calls to my office or the emails I received, there were two things I heard over and over:

"You must raise taxes!"

"You must cut spending!"

Generally speaking, it was a call to raise taxes and spend more, or it was a demand that spending be cut, and sometimes cut taxes.

Let's focus on the idea of cutting spending.

There are some things the state government must oversee and funds must be allocated for them. Education, public safety, child advocacy and protection, our prison system, senior nutrition, roads and bridges and a wide variety of other programs must be sustained and properly funded.

But, at what levels must each program be sustained, and what is proper funding?

Are there programs that should be eliminated or agencies that should be merged?

Are there duplicative services that can be eliminated?

How can we make an agency or program more efficient and eliminate waste?

I am no expert on the budgets of all the programs and agencies in the State of Oklahoma's government, though I am continually striving to learn more.

So here's my request to you.

Help me.

Don't just complain that the state needs to "live within its means," a refrain I saw in many emails, but tell me how to get there. Agency budgets are available online. Dig into your favorite areas of the state's budget and tell me line items to eliminate, programs that need to be reduced or eliminated, and other ways to cut spending.

Give me concrete, specific examples I can investigate and possibly take action on. Make a logical argument for your position.

Who knows how many bills I could author to cut waste, with your help.

I welcome your questions and concerns, so please feel free to contact my office at the State Capitol if you would like to discuss a particular issue or problem. Our office can be reached by phone at 405-521-5561 or by email at bergstrom@oksenate.gov. If you visit the Capitol, we are located in Room 527A.

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A Call for DHS to NOT play politics

Press Release on June 12, 2017

Bergstrom urges OKDHS to use stalled legislation as agency budget guide

OKLAHOMA CITY – Following a challenging legislative session where the nearly $1 billion budget shortfall was a top concern, State Senator Micheal Bergstrom sent a letter this week to the director of the state Department of Human Services (DHS), urging the agency to continue to protect the programs outlined in Senate Bill 848, even though the legislation stalled before lawmakers adjourned for the year.

     The measure passed in the Senate with a 42-3 vote, but time ran out in the session before it could be passed in the House. Regardless, Bergstrom (R-Adair) is requesting DHS director Ed Lake to use the components of SB 848 as a “common sense” guide to prioritize spending as he leads the agency into the next year. In his letter to Lake this week, Bergstrom urges a reduction in administrative expenses, and not cuts to essential services, in the event of a revenue shortfall this year.

     “I commend Director Lake and his staff for their diligence in working to meet the needs of Oklahoma citizens,” Bergstrom said. “The job of each agency, as well as that of the legislature, is to meet the needs of our citizens, especially those who are most vulnerable. With that in mind, it is critical that agencies like DHS do everything possible to protect the funding and implementation of the services referenced in SB848, such as, but not limited to, Senior Nutrition, Child Welfare Services, Developmental Disability Services, the Pinnacle Plan, and the Child Abuse Multidisciplinary Account. These programs have far-reaching benefits to our families and communities.”

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For more information, contact Sen. Micheal Bergstrom at 405-521-5561 or Bergstrom@oksenate.gov.

Issues in the wake of Oklahoma's newest budget

Capitol Considerations 

by Senator Micheal Bergstrom

When the Oklahoma legislature locked down the budget on Friday, May 26, it may have filled a budget hole for the fiscal year beginning in July, but it left a few problems in its wake.

As things stand right now . . .

* Legislators are facing a built-in budget deficit next session of $200 million to $400 million.

* Oklahoma's prison system is at 109 percent capacity.

* We approved fees or taxes that may not be constitutional.

Since we failed to make significant budget cuts and did not put in place sufficient new, recurring revenue streams, next year we will be facing another budget shortfall, although, hopefully, not as difficult to deal with as this year's.

We did make progress in the area of criminal justice reform, but we have a long way to go. Prison overcrowding, if it continues, is going to be opening the door for a Justice Department investigation, and lawsuits. The Department of Corrections is calling for three more prisons while the public seems to want a reduction in the number of nonviolent criminals going to prison. We must deal with this.

Then we have our taxes and fees.

Needless to say, when voters passed State Question 640 years ago, they wanted to limit the legislature's ability to raise taxes. It's worked. With a 75 percent super-majority vote required to pass a tax increase in both chambers, doing so is almost impossible.

The problem is, that after years of significant cuts and a series of revenue failures, there were some agencies we couldn't cut. I'll admit that after just months on the job, I was not expert enough to know where to seek cuts in critical agencies like Common Education, Department of Corrections, Department of Public Safety and the Department of Human Services.

So we either have to pass fees or remove exemptions from existing taxes, since that only requires a 50 percent plus one vote.

One of the increases we ended up with is SB 845. This is a new $1.50 cessation fee on each pack of cigarettes. We want smokers to quit and young people to not start, so we are raising the cost of smoking. It doesn't hurt that it will help fill about $215 million of our budget hole.

I voted for the bill, and am sorry I did.

Originally this was going to be a tax, but it couldn't get passed in the House of Representatives, and suddenly it appeared as a fee. Now I don't have a problem with it as either a tax or a fee since it's going toward health care and will help pay for the treatment of Oklahoma citizens with smoking related diseases.

The problem is whether or not it is constitutional. If the courts see the fee as a tax then the bill will be tossed out, that funding will be gone, and our shortfall will be even greater.

Obviously, we could have and should have done better.

I welcome your questions and concerns, so please feel free to contact my office at the State Capitol if you would like to discuss a particular issue or problem. Our office can be reached by phone at 405-521-5561 or by email at bergstrom@oksenate.gov. If you visit the Capitol, we are located in Room 527A.

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