The Oklahoma Education Lottery Fund. Was it raided? Here's the truth, but shhh, it's a secret.

Capitol Considerations 

by Senator Micheal Bergstrom

           

 Let Me Tell You A Secret

The Oklahoma Education Lottery Trust Fund was raided once again, or was it?

Well, it all comes down to a secret formula.

On Tuesday the Senate passed, unanimously, Senate Bill 1582 which restores money to the trust fund that the State Board of Equalization had determined was supplanted. That money, almost $20 million, was taken from a surplus in the Unclaimed Property Fund.

So, why in the world would the legislature siphon money from the Education Lottery Fund?

Here’s the reality, we didn’t. Or at least we don’t think we did.

The problem is that the Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES), which did the calculations for the Board of Equalization, has a formula to determine, when a budget is passed, whether or not the amount being spent on education from sources other than the lottery results in money being supplanted from the lottery trust fund.

It’s a secret.

Nobody in the legislature has any idea how they make their determinations, even though legislative leaders have repeatedly asked the Governor’s office and OMES for an explanation. We’ve been asking for this information since June 2017.

So did OMES warn us about this issue?

Why, of course not.

OMES could have informed the legislature anytime from June 2017 until now about the so-called supplanting so we could have remedied the problem with a supplemental appropriation. The Governor’s office and budget director, you know, the head of OMES, were a part of all budget negotiations, and never raised this point about the budget.

We suspect that there is a great deal of education funding that is not being taken into consideration by this secret formula.

Still we thought we were fine when we finalized our budget in the still ongoing second special session, which we had to fix after the Governor creatively vetoed our budget in the first special session.

But when OMES declared we had supplanted the lottery fund, it threw a monkey wrench in our efforts to shut down the second special session and focus on the 2019 budget. We had no choice but to restore those funds so we can move on.

Thus the unanimous vote in the Senate on Tuesday.

Hopefully OMES will enlighten the legislature regarding its mysterious formula. When that will happen? Your guess is as good as mine.

After all, it’s a secret.

P.S.

A few hours after I originally released this column, I was told by someone in leadership that they had just received an explanation of the "secret" formula. 

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 428B.

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Another One Bites the Dust

Capitol Considerations 

by Senator Micheal Bergstrom 

Another One Bites the Dust

Wait for it. Wait for it. Wait for it.

There.

That sound you heard was the “doink doink” of the Oklahoma House of Representatives closing down the vote Monday night on House Bill 1033xx.

And another revenue bill just bit the dust. Whether or not it can be resurrected is only to be seen.

Now there will be some who will be jumping for joy over this, while others are in mourning. Some will be crying from the rooftops, cellphones and social media, “Hurrah, the tax is dead.” Some will be shouting from those same places, “The teachers are leaving and our children are dying.”

Most will probably be wondering just what this does mean and what comes next.

In the previous session we had a plan, called the A-plus plan, that increased the motor fuel tax, cigarette tax and the gross production tax on oil and gas from two to four percent. Exactly the same levels of increase as in this new Step-Up Plan which also includes a tax on wind energy generation. The A-Plus plan passed the Senate but failed in the House by 5 votes. It failed because the oil and gas industry intensely lobbied against it.

On Monday night the Step-Up Plan, which is being pushed by the oil and gas industry because they fear a petition initiative to get a state question on the ballot to raise the gross production tax to seven percent, was defeated in the House by 13 votes.

So, unless we can pull a rabbit out of our hat, we are going to end up with cuts across most agencies, including education. It is likely there will be a move to remove exemptions on sales taxes of services, since that is a 50 percent vote, unlike new revenue bills that require 75 percent in both houses of the legislature. Your barber may have to start collecting such a tax. It is possible we will see the closing of some of our state parks. Some bridges will not be repaired or replaced, and some roads will have to wait as well.

Oh, and oil and gas, it’s likely they have seriously miscalculated and that state question will go to the ballot and be passed.

What can one say, but “doink doink.” 

(By the way, that’s the sound you hear at the beginning of each Law and Order television episode, for those who didn’t know.)

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 428B.

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Thoughts on Governor Mary Fallin's State of the State Speech and Kicking Off the Session

Capitol Considerations 

by Senator Micheal Bergstrom

Back In the Saddle Again

As of Monday, February 5, we are back in session, back in the saddle again.

No, let me correct that, we are still in the second special session.

Well, to be accurate, we are in a new regular session and continuing the second special session concurrently. So, in a way I might say I am back in the saddle again, but we’ve been in the saddle so much this past year that some might be getting saddle sores.

Of course, Governor Mary Fallin kicked off the new regular session with her state of the state speech and it was a good speech. Especially when compared to the one she gave in 2017. I was glad to see that the Governor's speech was not a lengthy laundry list of proposed tax increases like last year's.

She described this as being a “historic, defining moment.” Maybe she’s right. Maybe we will begin to move away from budget failures and one-time budget fixes. Maybe we will see significant reforms this year and our state government will run more efficiently. Maybe we will be able to take on the challenges of prison overcrowding and increasing teacher salaries.

I hope so, but as the Governor stated in her speech, it will require cooperation.

Compromise will be necessary for the legislature to deal with long-term funding issues and to reform the government to make it more efficient. The governor also noted that the legislature is no rubber stamp for her or any group's proposals. While she indicated she supports the Step-Up Oklahoma Plan, which is a collection of revenue measures and reforms, proposed by the business community, intended to stabilize the budget and make government more efficient, she stated that there are portions of the plan that we, the legislature, may choose to modify or scuttle, and that is what I expect will happen.

Even if portions of the Step-Up plan pass, and bills related to the Step-Up plan will probably begin being heard in Joint Committee on Appropriations and Budget (JCAB) in the House this week, we have a great deal of other problems to take on.

For example, since our prisons are at 112 percent capacity, the governor’s call for us to take on the challenge of prison overcrowding and finding alternate ways to deal with those with addictions is spot on. We need to deal with that now, before we end up with the Department of Justice deciding it wants to take control of the situation away from the state. It has happened before and it can happen again.

And that is just one of the problems the legislature must act on this session.

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 428B.

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Why We Must Increase Teacher Salaries

Capitol Considerations 

by Senator Micheal Bergstrom

           

       We must raise teacher salaries.

Last session I filed a bill to provide Oklahoma’s teachers with a $5,000 pay raise that would have been phased in over three years. One of the reasons I sponsored the bill was that during my campaign for office one question I was asked repeatedly was: what would I do about improving things for our teachers?

Needless to say, the bill never came to a vote on the floor and despite my efforts and those of others there was no pay raise. The largest reason for that was the budget deficit which just seemed to keep getting worse.

Most I speak with today on the subject tell me this is still a serious concern, but then there are the few who disagree. I have heard things like, “Well if they don’t like what they’re getting paid here, let them go somewhere else.”

Admittedly, there are some in the teaching profession whose primary interest is the money and the kids are just an afterthought, but that’s not the norm. There are those in any profession who would be better off doing something else or going to a different employer.

Here, though, are reasons why we must pass a pay increase.

We are in a nationwide teacher shortage and we must be reasonably competitive to retain and recruit quality teachers into our classrooms. I was talking with a superintendent the other day who had lost several teachers over Christmas break, some to other schools across the state line, others to significantly better paying jobs outside of education.

This brings me to my next point.

Teachers are leaving the classroom to pursue better paying careers. That bachelor’s degree that teachers must possess (and many attain higher degrees, not counting the continuing professional development requirements) will often open the door to far more lucrative careers, and many teachers, especially with families to provide for, choose to step through that door out of financial necessity.

It has been a decade since Oklahoma teachers received a pay raise. Back then, the legislature was trying to play catch-up as it is today.

Business is opting to NOT relocate in Oklahoma.  Economic development is one of my primary areas of concern as a legislator. When I talk with business leaders, CEOs, and others about bringing business to and helping businesses grow in my district and the state as a whole, education is a major concern. A well educated work force is critical, and our state’s ranking in education compared to other states, and our inability to pay a competitive wage to our teachers is something that negatively impacts us.

Increasing teacher pay will not solve all our education issues, but it will let those who daily pour themselves into instructing our children and grandchildren know they are valued.  It will also help us retain and recruit classroom teachers, while showing businesses that are considering moving to Oklahoma that we are serious about education in our state.

      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 428B.