AUDIT-AUDIT-AUDIT-AUDIT!

Weekly Opinion Editorial

TURNAROUND OR PROCESSION?

by Steve Fair

     On Monday, the Oklahoma legislature convened and Governor Kevin Stitt delivered his first ‘State of the State’ address to a joint session of the legislature.  Stitt began his speech with these words: “My vision for Oklahoma is very clear and simple: to make Oklahoma a Top 10 state.”  He outlined three steps to move the Sooner state from the bottom third to the top ten: (1) Bring Oklahomans together from throughout the state to serve in critical leadership roles.  (2) Set measurable goals for state employees, agency heads and his staff to be a part of one team working to accomplish one vision, (3) Hold Oklahoma elected officials accountable for delivering results.

     In the speech, Stitt proposed a $1,200 per year teacher pay raise, which comes on top of the $6,100 the legislature passed last year.  If approved by the legislature and signed into law, Oklahoma public school teachers will be the highest paid in the six-state region. “We will invest in the classroom.  But we must first continue our investment in the teacher, because it’s not programs, curriculum, or resources that students will remember. The magic happens between the student and the teacher in the classroom,” the newly elected governor said.  Stitt believes a quality public school system will grow Oklahoma’s economy.  Let’s hope so.  The butchers, bakers and candlestick makers would like to share in the wealth.  They are paid much less than the regional average.

      The governor said every decision in his administration will have the goal of promoting a healthy economy in the Sooner state.  “The government does not create wealth, only the private sector can,” Stitt said.    

     Last year, the Republican controlled state legislature passed record tax increases to plug revenue shortfalls.  The oil and gas industry rebounded and the shortfalls wasn’t as short as thought.  In December, the Oklahoma State Board of Equalization estimated the legislature will have a minimum of $612 million more to spend this year vs. last year.  That is due to the increased oil and gas exploration in the state, an industry that is very cyclical and unpredictable.  There is no guarantee those funds will be there in 2020.  The legislature needs to be prudent and not spend every dime of revenue that comes in.  A downturn is certain and to be ill prepared will result in the same circumstance as last year. 

     Two things blatantly missing from Stitt’s speech were performance audits and the elimination of state payer funded lobbyists.  Over the course of the last year, his stump speech has always included performance audits of state agencies.  He should press the legislature to fund the Auditors office to conduct the audits.

     The governor’s speech was much like his campaign- long on energy but short on specifics.  In order to make a lasting impact, he needs to move from campaigning to governing.  He needs to audit every entity that gets one dime of state tax dollars.  Root out waste, fraud and abuse first, then fund accordingly.  Spending money isn’t a turnaround- it’s the same old procession and that won’t make Oklahoma a top ten state.