State question would limit how Oklahoma officials can draft future budgets.
BY JULIE BISBEE Oklahoman, NewsOK
Published: September 8, 2010
A state question that would mandate how much money is spent on common education would make it extremely difficult to balance the budget without a tax increase, top economists said Tuesday.
During a news conference at the state Capitol on Tuesday, economists working with the One Oklahoma Coalition said SQ 744 is flawed and could do more harm than good for the state.
"It's hubris to suggest that you now know, here, today in 2010, exactly how it is that money should best be spent for all time perpetuity," said Alexander Holmes, chair of the department of economics at the University of Oklahoma and a former state budget official. "The constitution needs to have in it fundamental principles. It should not have in it mathematical formulas."
Under former Gov. Henry Bellmon, Holmes worked with other lawmakers to come up with a plan to increase funding for education in the historic House Bill 1017... FULL ARTICLE
Posted on
Wed, September 8, 2010
by Crystal Drwenski