Leaders of state agencies involved in education spent more than two hours Wednesday defending their budget requests before the Oklahoma Senate Education Appropriations Subcommittee, arguing that Gov. Kevin Stitt has called for spending to stay the same but would increase the budget. I explained the reason for my request.
The hearing was held as part of the Senate's new budget transparency initiative announced by Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat (R-Oklahoma City) earlier this year. Leaders of state agencies with educational missions appeared, including State Schools Superintendent Ryan Walters, State Higher Education Secretary Allison Garrett, and CareerTech Director Brent Haken.
As part of their testimony, all agency heads were asked two questions by the subcommittee chairman, Senator Adam Pugh. Another question is how much power the governor had in selecting the members of the agency's board (the governor appoints all or a majority of the board). If you want to stick with previously submitted budget requests, or if you want to resubmit those requests to comply with Stitt's request for a uniform government budget.
Dan Whitmarsh, head of the National Land Agency, was the only one to choose the latter option. Whitmarsh said there were “still some inefficiencies” in the office, adding: “We just want to run the agency as efficiently as possible.”
Another institution, the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, had already submitted a budget proposal that would receive less state funding than last year. Everyone else was asking for various levels of increase.
“You can see the Senate’s new transparent budget plan in action,” Pugh said. “As chair, I am empowered to run these meetings as I see fit, and I am committed to holding these meetings in public.As we saw today, we We asked the tough questions and we want everything to be done in the open.”
The budget request was submitted months before Stitt asked for a flat budget.
The agencies submitted their budget requests months ago, long before Mr. Stitt's across-the-board budget request, and presented those requests and fielded questions from lawmakers in committees weeks before the start of the current legislative session. In a presentation to the Senate Education Appropriations Subcommittee, Pugh, R-Edmond, warned agency leaders that they would likely be recalled to answer further questions. He made good on that promise Wednesday.
Under the Senate's new budget process, subcommittees will do the heavy lifting of setting budget priorities. Sen. Roger Thompson (R-Okayama), the Senate Budget Chairman, would give each subcommittee chair a percentage of the revenue allocation. He said Thompson would set the percentages for each area of state government, and then senators would vote in public session on what each agency's budget should be.
Once the agency subcommittee hearings are complete, Pugh will address the full Senate Appropriations Committee and advocate for the education appropriations subcommittee's priorities. Pugh said Wednesday's meeting was another step in the process.
“Government works best when it can demonstrate where its priorities are and when agency leaders can explain exactly where tax dollars are being spent,” Pew said. “As a fiscal conservative, I believe Oklahomans need to know where and how their taxpayer dollars are being spent.”
With one exception, no government agency significantly changes its budget proposal during public hearings.
On Wednesday, no agency leader other than the Land Office chief made any substantive changes to the proposed budget. Messrs. Walters, Garrett, and Haken, who represent the three most prominent government agencies, received the most questions, especially from Sen. Mary Bolen (D-Norman), who said the budget request represented growth in government. I continued to ask agency heads if they were making investments in the United States, or if they represented investments to meet needs. Oklahoman.
Haken, who is seeking a 26% funding increase for next school year, said Career Tech's enrollment increased by 9.5%, or about 3,000 students, this year. However, the agency still has a waiting list of about 7,400 applicants. He said Stitt called on CareerTech to develop a “clear plan for growth” and said demand for the company's services is growing “faster than at any time in history.”
Garrett's agency, the Oklahoma Department of Higher Education, has requested a 12.2% increase in funding for next year to $1.126 billion. A priority for state officials is to address his $1.5 billion deferred maintenance backlog on Oklahoma's 25 state university campuses. They're asking for $200 million this year for those needs alone, and hope Congress will make an annual appropriation for more than just campus security and cybersecurity in the near future, Garrett said. .
As Walters has said in previous budget hearings, expanding the state's teacher bonus program, which had a problematic initial rollout, and expanding the tutoring program across the state remain priorities. said. He believes the tutoring program will help address student learning loss caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced schools across the state into virtual learning for an extended period of time.
In a statement released after the meeting, Bolen referenced CareerTech's waiting list and testimony from Jennifer McGrail, executive director of the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology, known as OCAST.
“Our state continues to aggressively recruit new businesses, employees, and their families to move to Oklahoma. We also increase the number of higher education and career tech graduates and encourage entrepreneurship in STEM fields. “We are also working to address labor shortages by stimulating the workforce,” she said. business. More skilled workers are needed, but CareerTech has 7,399 people on its waiting list. This is an unmet demand and requires additional investment. Last year, OCAST only funded 20 out of 60 grant applications to grow Oklahoma's innovative Her STEM business. That's 40 missed opportunities for innovation, job development and business growth.
“Flat budgets mean funding for growth is drying up. Businesses facing increased demand need to know that their investments will pay dividends for years to come. , will seize that opportunity by investing more. More residents and more students will result in increased demand, and it is in the state's best interest to meet this. Funding for education will depend on the government's It’s not about growth. We’re growing Oklahomans and helping our citizens and state become more prosperous.”
