Weekly Opinion Editorial
THE BALL BOUNCES!
by Steve Fair
In the 2018
Republican gubernatorial primary, then candidate Kevin Stitt promised to have
the State Auditor and Inspector audit every major state agency if he was
elected. He wasn’t the only one- every
candidate followed then State Auditor Gary Jones’ lead and said they would
audit every dime of taxpayer dollars, but then the campaign ended and the
promises forgotten-until this week.
On Thursday,
Governor Stitt announced he has asked Cindy Byrd, the Oklahoma State Auditor to
audit the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE). The governor said he wants all revenue sources
flowing into the ODSE identified. OSDE
has many buckets of revenue- state funds, federal funds, state appropriations,
taxes, and fees. The audit is also to determine
whether OSDE and Oklahoma school districts are complying with financial
transaction reporting requirements.
“I promised
Oklahomans that as governor I would clean up state government to make it more
transparent and accountable and I am keeping that promise. As we make record
investments in our public education system, students and parents deserve to
know that their schools are spending our tax dollars appropriately and in
accordance with the law,” Stitt said in a press release.
“This type of audit has never been conducted
in the history of Oklahoma and, perhaps, the nation,” State Auditor Cindy
Byrd said. “As always, these audits are about transparency and
accountability to taxpayers. I commend Gov. Stitt for requesting this audit.
People want to know how their tax dollars are spent on education.” State Superintendent
of Public Instruction (SSPI) Joy Hofmeister says the audit is an attack on
public education.
"As the
Governor should already know, the OSDE has undergone more than 20 financial,
compliance and programmatic review audits by the state auditor’s office in the
last 6-1/2 years. Additionally, the Governor’s hand-picked Secretary of
Education approves every agency expenditure over $25,000 on a weekly basis.
Every single spending request has been personally approved by Secretary Ryan
Walters. The Governor’s call for an audit is yet another attack on Oklahoma’s
public education system,” Hofmeister said in a press release. Three observations.
First, better
late than never. Education (secondary
and higher ed) receive more of Oklahoman’s hard earned tax dollars than any
other state agency. It is long past time for a comprehensive audit of the OSDE.
It should be regularly audited and it
shouldn’t require special action to get it done. All state agencies, not just OSDE, should face
the same scrutiny.
Second, Stitt’s
timing on the request looks political. An
audit will take some time to complete. Release
of the findings will be in 2022, an election year. The primary election is in June 2022. Stitt’s Secretary of Education, Ryan Walters
is an announced GOP candidate for SSPI- the office Hofmeister is termed out of. Both Stitt and Byrd have announced they are
seeking reelection in 2022. If the audit
finds some shenanigans, they all look good in the eyes of the voters. Back in November 2020, twenty two(22)
legislators asked the governor to request a full blown investigative audit of
the OSDE. Why wait ten months to make
that request? As they say, timing is
everything.
Third, an audit
is not an attack. It is a tool to verify
tax dollars are being spent as they should be.
Honest, ethical elected officials should never fear an audit- they
should welcome them. Most auditors are
watchdogs, not bloodhounds. Taxpayers
have a right to know where and how their money is being spent. It is never a waste of tax dollars to look at
the books.
Lou Holtz says,
“The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the
one who dropped it.” It will be
interesting to see which way this ball bounces.
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