Capitol
Considerations
by Senator Micheal Bergstrom
Other
than the two-plus hours I spent on the Senate floor, in caucus, and
in a meeting in my office on Monday, I was in bed in my apartment
near the Capitol trying to recover from whatever the crud is that has
me down.
I
didn’t have much to say during caucus or on the floor, partly
because I was trying to avoid contact with other members to avoid
passing this on, and also because I was trying to save my voice for
the meeting in my office.
I’m
a little under the weather.
It
would seem that the State of Oklahoma is as well.
Now
if you listen to some, the State is not just sick but practically in
a state of decomposition.
Admittedly
we have some issues, but a lot of the comments about the state’s
condition are overkill.
Some
of our issues:
First,
the Governor vetoed, using a very creative line item veto, the
amended budget we sent her at the end of the first special session.
This has resulted in some serious issues. We had gone into special
session with the express purpose of restoring funding to three
agencies, Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA), Oklahoma Department
of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS), and the
Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS), which were stripped of
much of that money. The CIRB fund (County Improvements for Roads and
Bridges) had an extra $50 million swept from its revolving fund on
top of the $30 million the legislature intended to use, and about $48
million in revenue from legacy wells was left undirected, not being
used.
So,
we must find a way to immediately restore funding to agencies like
OKDHS and deal with some of the numerous other issues created by the
veto, and do it this week. Eventually we need to restore the CIRB
funding.
To
give credit where credit is due; for weeks the Republican leadership
has been meeting with the Governor, with leadership from the minority
party, and with business and industry leaders to find a long-term
solution to our budget issues. They seem to be making some progress.
But that won’t be ready until probably January.
Moving
onto the next issue. The Department of Health was using
inappropriate, if not illegal, bookkeeping to hide its financial
condition from the legislature and the Governor. This is being
investigated. Hopefully it will be made right soon.
Remember
the meeting I mentioned earlier? That was with Director of
Corrections, Joe Allbaugh. Another issue is that our prisons are
definitely sick.
Let’s
see, serious overcrowding, dilapidated prisons like McAlester where
we spend $41,000 per year on each inmate, and contraband like drugs
and cellphones flooding the prisons, putting the guards and the
inmates’ lives at risk. It still boggles the mind that we have
prisons without fences around them, so prisoners just walk away from
time to time. Director Allbaugh assured me that’s an issue he’s
aiming to correct.
The
director and I were able to discuss some common sense solutions to
issues as well as legislation I am working on. It reminded me of the
disease that is weakening our state. It might be called
“catchup-itis.” You know, where we are constantly trying to
catch up, to repair that which should have been replaced long ago,
where the efficiencies we expected a decade ago might be instituted
sometime in the future, and where the state finds itself being
financially strangled by poorly planned and projected tax credits and
rebates, that only get dealt with when it’s almost too late.
A
few more days of mostly sleeping and I hope to be right as rain.
When
we will actually take on the illness plaguing the State of Oklahoma?
That, I don’t know, but hopefully soon.
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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