Budgets are an issue, Federal and State

Capitol Considerations 

by Senator Micheal Bergstrom

           

           Budgets.

           I’m spending a lot of time looking at budgets.

           Here in Oklahoma there is the state budget, which must now be balanced since the Oklahoma Supreme Court has overturned the cigarette fee that was passed during the last legislative session. It is a $215 million hole, and it is a hole in funding to three agencies, which, when we consider the loss of matching federal funds, will result in a $500 million budget failure.

           For those agencies, Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA), Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS), and the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) and for the Oklahomans these agencies serve, this will be a devastating shortfall if not corrected. That is why we will be returning for a special session on September 25.

           I have also been looking at the federal budget.

            From September 12-15, I was in Phoenix, Arizona attending the Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA) Planning Convention as a delegate. This gathering prepared the rules and guidelines for a future Article V Convention of the States for proposing an amendment.

           Just one amendment. A balanced budget amendment.

           The national debt just surpassed $20 trillion and it is projected to increase by a trillion dollars a year for the next decade. We are borrowing trillions of dollars from foreign countries. We have had the Federal Reserve Bank printing money to pay our bills. We have looted all of our Federal trust and pension funds, including our military retirement funds, to pay for our government. This is just not sustainable.

           Since Congress has failed to restrict its spending, it is up to the states to act, and that is what we are doing. Article V of the United States Constitution provides two methods for proposing amendments to the Constitution. It may be either a resolution adopted by two-thirds of both houses of Congress, or by the states at a convention called for that purpose. At this time 27 states, including Oklahoma, have signed on to the convention, with seven more needed for the convention to be called.

          In Phoenix we created a model set of rules, set up a standard for the next convention, and re-established a mechanism for the states to come together and exercise their authority to restrain the federal government.

        We are on the path to a financial disaster that will make the Great Recession of 2008 seem like an economic speed bump in comparison.

         That is why states like Oklahoma are stepping forward to force Congress to change its behavior. We must do this to protect our children, grandchildren and future generations from a crippling national debt, and I’m proud to be a part of this process.

        In my next column I will address the other budget I’m trying to understand and the special session we are preparing for in the Oklahoma legislature.

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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