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  Marcus McEntire

News

The Core Functions of Your Government

4/21/2017

2 Comments

 
I’m sure you have heard a lot about the “core functions of government.” Recently, I’ve been wondering if the Legislature’s idea of “core services” is in line with your ideas of what a government ought to be funding. I want to break down for you what the Legislature views as core services based on what it appropriates to them. It seems to me the core services we spend the most of your tax dollars on reveals the Legislature's priorities. 

​As you might expect, education received the greatest share of state money. Between common and higher education, combined with things like the arts council and career tech, the Legislature doled out 45.76 percent of its total budget to education. Common ed received 32.67 percent, which meant the Department of Education received more than $2.4 billion last year.

Public heath received the second largest amount of funding at 19.53 percent. Under that umbrella, the Legislature appropriated 13.34 percent to the Health Care Authority and 4.37 percent to the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. Agencies like the health department and the Department of Veterans Affairs each receive less than 1 percent of the state budget.

Human services received 10.41 percent of the appropriated budget. This funds the Department of Human Services, Juvenile Affairs, Rehabilitation Services and aid to the disabled population.

Transportation was allocated 9.05 percent of the budget. These funds are mainly directed to the ROADS fund and Dept. of Transportation to keep our roads and bridges maintained, paved and repaired. You've probably seen new bridges in the area, and they are due to these funds.

We spend a lot of time at the Capitol discussing public safety. As a whole, public safety received 8.14 percent of last year’s budget. Of that, the Department of Corrections received $485 million, or 6.53 percent. The Department of Public Safety received 1.2 percent, and the Legislature appropriated 0.17 percent to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. Other public safety agencies received even less.

Working on the budget is an ongoing task.  Senior lawmakers have called this year’s process the most open one ever. House leadership shares each scenario with the entire Republican caucus and we all have a say in them. I know it’s easy to believe this process is secretive and everyone is intentionally kept in the dark, but that is not the case this year.

In fact, House Republicans started rolling out the first few bills in a series of revenue measures last week. I was asked to present one of those bills on the House floor this week and experienced my first debate because of it. The measure passed 87-7. We also scaled back some tax credits and exemptions, and we’ll likely do more of that in the weeks to come.

To recap, based on the spending of the Legislature, the core functions of government rank as follows: Education, Healthcare, Human Services, Transportation and Public Safety. Do these core functions match up with what you believe is important? Reach out and let me know. You can call the office at (405) 557-7327 or email me at Marcus.McEntire@okhouse.gov. Thank you, and God bless.

2 Comments
Robert Gray link
4/22/2017 07:45:21 am

Thanks for sharing.
Can you list the what I would consider the "overhead" cost of government in Oklahoma? That is the annualized cost for buildings, maintenance, insurance, utilities, salaries, bonuses, allowances, conferences, trips, etc. directly to elected and appointed officials and indirectly for benefit of their staffs?
Having participated in, and retired from, both engineering and education; my engineering personality would suggest that the current education system in Oklahoma (and nationally) is grossly inefficient. That statement is for both common and higher education. The state should not feel any need to provide every possible experience for learners at public expense. Education needs to come to consensus regarding ESSENTIAL learning, then do zero based budgeting for that level of support. The state tax budget would be reduced to support that reduced level (probably 30-40% lower). Then parents would be free to budget the personalized " frills" for their children from that avoided tax. A comprehensive list of all the details is too long to list here, but inclusion of cheap technology might actually cut education costs by 50%.

Thanks for your time and service,
Bob

Reply
Marcus McEntire
4/22/2017 09:39:39 am

Thank you for commenting, Bob. I will look into the overhead. I know we have cut our overhead in the House significantly. Travel allowances are gone. I'm sure other agencies have cut simply because the budget has been slashed so much, but I do not have the numbers in front of me.

A bill passed the House in March that paves the way for forensic audits to be performed on the top 20 appropriated state agencies. The outcomes of these audits would be beneficial for the people to know and will reveal what you want to see.

I agree about zero-based budgeting. Every agency should justify their spending. This will require a culture change in government. It will not be easy, but this is the tack we aim to take.

Marcus

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    Marcus McEntire

    Marcus McEntire represents Oklahoma House District 50. 

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