It's time to Save Our State

Yesterday Let's Fix This stood with nearly two dozen nonprofit and professional organizations to announce the Save Our State budget plan. This three-year budget blueprint is far more than just the gimmicky fixes that the legislature often passes - this plan puts Oklahoma on a real, sustainable path to prosperity. It steers us away from more devastating budget cuts and allows us to actually invest in education, public safety, healthcare, and transportation.

• NewsOK report
• Save Our State website
• Full-text of budget blueprint
• Two-page summary
• Action guide

You probably know the phrase "We're all in this together," and this budget plan definitely embodies that idea. It's broad-based and reflects the ideals of the democratic republic in which we live - if everyone gives a little, we all get a lot in return. Rich and poor, sales and services, oil and wind, public and private - everybody chips in to share the responsibility for helping Oklahoma reach it's full potential. 

This isn't the only budget plan out there. Governor Fallin announced her plan at the beginning of session, and it has a few strong components. The House Democrats released their "Restoring Oklahoma" budget plan a few weeks ago, and it's pretty solid, too. We chose to join the SOS Coalition because we believe this budget plan is the best recipe for Oklahoma's success. Like any good recipe, ingredients and proportions matter. We encourage lawmakers to not pick and choose just the things they like best; we encourage them to consider the plan as a whole. Think of it like baking a cake - if you leave out some of the ingredients, it's not going to work. In fact, it's going to be a disaster. You can't use just flour and sugar and expect to have a cake that tastes good; you'll just have a pile of dry powder that no one wants. Likewise, you can't just use sugar and eggs. Will it sweet? Yes, it'll also be really gross. Oklahoma deserves better. 

Oklahoma deserves a DAMN good cake.

The SOS budget blueprint is based on five key things:

• Address the overall budget situation, not just the public education crisis. The plan ensures there will be enough revenue to avert further budget cuts and invest in key priorities.
• Acknowledge revenue is part of the problem and modernize the tax system while ending special interest giveaways.
• Look beyond the current crisis and propose realistic solutions to structural budget problems plaguing the state.
• Propose reforms to budgeting practices that will increase legislative oversight and reduce the potential for future revenue failures.
• Model the transparency we believe our elected officials should adopt.

Fixing a state is a big task, but it's not insurmountable. We believe that with this plan and your help, together, we can fix this. Visit SaveOurStateOK.org to pledge your support, and then use this 30-second guide to put your support into action.

A New Deal for Oklahoma

Just over 84 years ago, in the midst of the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office and delivered his first inaugural address. The speech mostly was about the Depression, which was (and still is) the worst financial crisis in American history. However, if you read it now, you'd think he was talking to us about Oklahoma's present budget situation. We've been saying things are bad, and hearing FDR's words echo across history gives our current situation some much-needed context. The familiar phrase "those who choose to ignore history are doomed to repeat it" has never felt more relevant.

To help illustrate this point, I reworked parts his speech to make it sound more modern and swapped out national nuances for Oklahoman ones, while retaining key phrases to preserve the overall feel and sentiment of the original. And, because I believe we need to be inspired by strong voices and thoughtful dialogue, I will be delivering this version during our Capitol Day event this later morning. 

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This is a day of statewide importance. This is the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. We should not shrink from discussing the conditions that face our state today. This great State will endure as it has endured. Together we can overcome, and together we will prosper.

First of all, let me be clear: the only thing that stands in our way is our own fear of speaking up, of speaking out, and of being labeled "too political." This is an unjustified terror which paralyzes us and inhibits our willingness to lead and do what is right and what is best for the people of Oklahoma. In this dark hour, as in every dark hour of our state, we need a leadership of frankness and of humility, a leadership that understands and supports the people themselves. We need to live up to the Oklahoma Standard that we so often revere.

Year after year, we face the same problems. Revenue has declined; taxes are levied inequitably and irresponsibly. Our government's ability to pay has fallen; our progress is frozen in the currents of corporate coddling; the withered leaves of broken families lie on every side; prisons teem with huddled, neglected masses; and the very safety nets that have saved thousands of Oklahoma families are now riddled with holes. Many of my fellow Oklahomans continue to face the grim reality of unshakable poverty, and an even greater number work tirelessly, week after week, living check to check, hovering just above economic collapse. Only a fool can deny the dark realities of the moment.

And yet, we have faced this adversity before. Compared with the perils of our past - the Dust Bowl, the oil bust, the other oil bust - we have much to be thankful for. The Earth still offers her bounty and our human efforts have multiplied it. However, while there is a package of prosperity at our doorstep, greed threatens to steal it away. The leaders of our state have failed, and yet, due to their own stubbornness or perhaps their own myopic incompetence, they still refuse to admit their failure. The shameless behavior of special interests stand indicted in the court of public opinion, and they are rejected by the hearts and minds of men.

True, the Legislative leadership may say they have tried, but they continue to act in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by repeated revenue failures, they have only proposed more cuts and more social control. Without the ability to promise prosperity and entice us to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for us to trust them while placating us with platitudes of moral indignation. They have no vision, and when there is no vision, the people perish.

Yes, some of those who created this situation have fled from their high seats in this building, the temple of our state. We may now restore this temple to the truth it once held. How well we restore it requires we seek values more noble than mere monetary profit.

Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and the moral stimulation of work should not be forgotten in the mad chase of fleeting profits. These dark days, my friends, will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to live in fear that our government may abandon us in our time of need, but to remind us that our state constitution was ordained to secure a just and rightful government, and to promote our mutual welfare and happiness. 

We must recognize that lower taxes will not magically make Oklahoma successful, and that must go hand in hand with legislators giving up the false belief that the only value of public office and political position are pride and personal gain. There must be an end to the conduct by both the legislature and by businesses that places politics and profits ahead of people. I'm not surprised that people have no confidence in our state government. Confidence thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, and on unselfish performance. Without them, confidence cannot live.

If we are to restore this state, it will require more than changes in ethics alone. This State is asking for action, and action now. As I stand before you today, our primary task is to fix the budget. This problem is completely solvable if we face it wisely and courageously. There are, in fact, many ways in which the budget can be helped, but it can never be helped by merely talking about it. We must act, and we must act quickly.

We must recognize that this will require nearly all of us to share the responsibility. However, the burden borne by each person should be fair, equitable, and proportionate to the degree of blessings each of us has received. Broadly supported measures, such as increasing taxes on cigarettes and fuel, despite their regressive nature, are a must. A surcharge on high incomes would only affect three percent of households, and they would still be paying less income tax than they did prior to the most recent round of tax cuts. Ending wind subsidies and the capital gains exemption, adopting combined corporate reporting, and increasing the gross production tax are all reasonable, viable, and totally justifiable means for reconstituting our lost revenue.

And finally, in our progress toward fixing our budget, we require two safeguards against a return of the evils of old: there must be a strict supervision of funding and how it is spent. There must be an end to automatic tax cut triggers that ignore the full context of the state's economy.

These, my friends, are the lines of attack. Through adoption of this plan, we begin to put our house in order and slowly restore the persistent optimism that has guided our state for more than a hundred years. Our social policy, though very important, must be secondary to establishing a sound state economy. I favor, as a practical policy, the putting of first things first. We all want to completely eliminate every ounce of waste, fraud, and abuse, but the emergency we face cannot wait on that accomplishment.

The basic thought that guides this specific plan of statewide recovery is the recognition of the old and permanently important Oklahoma spirit of the pioneer. It is the way to recovery, and it is the immediate way. It is the strongest assurance that recovery will endure. We must blaze a trail to solvency, to hope, to our successful future. 

We must be good neighbors; we must be the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and the rights of others; the neighbor who respects his obligations and respects the sanctity of his agreements with all of his neighbors. We cannot merely take; we must give as well. If we are to move forward, we must recognize that we are all in this together.

We hope that the normal balance of authority between the House and Senate will be enough to meet the unprecedented task before us. However, in the event that the legislature fails to take a proper course; in the event that the statewide emergency is still critical, we shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront us. We will file, we will campaign, we will vote, and we will win each and every seat currently occupied by legislators who do not represent the best interests of the good, hardworking people of Oklahoma.

Now, we don't distrust the future of democracy. We, the people of Oklahoma, have not failed. We have registered a mandate that we want direct, vigorous action. We have asked for discipline and direction under leadership. We have made the governor and the legislature the instruments of our wishes, and in the spirit of that gift, we request, nay, we demand that our leaders stand up and lead.

We face the difficult days ahead with an increasingly warm courage of growing statewide unity; with the collective decision to seek justice based upon inclusive and accepting moral values; and with the clean satisfaction that comes from doing what we all know, deep down, is for the common good. We all want a secure and prosperous Oklahoma life.

My fellow Oklahomans, I ask you to join me in this fight. Join us in asking the legislature to fix the budget, to redeem our state. There are many in this building who already stand with us. My friends, with your help, we can do this. Grab a friend, join me, and together: let's fix this.

Breaking the Cycle

Most of my career has been spent working in the mental health field, which isn't exactly known for being lucrative. (For reference, it's likely that NASA will put a man on Mars before I will pay off my student loans.)  But, it's good, honest work and I have always appreciated the opportunity to serve a group of people who have complex, sometimes painfully difficult needs. It is truly a privilege to be bear witness to the depth and darkness of a person's life, to hear their secrets and their fears, and to be a living testament to the struggles and suffering they have endured. 

Most of the counselors I know make in the low to mid $30,000s, and they do this work because it is important, it is rewarding, and it is absolutely necessary. Same with many teachers, social workers, police officers, custodians, bus drivers, and a bajillion other jobs that allow our society to function with civility and help people support their families and pay their bills.

Except for when they can't.

Sadly, most Oklahomans live paycheck-to-paycheck. We get by so long as our paycheck is deposited on time and nothing unexpected pops up. You can pay most of your bills, but you dont' really get to save much. And then sometimes it's a cold winter and your gas bill is really high, or it's a really hot summer and your electricity bill skyrockets. Suddenly, living paycheck-to-paycheck really sucks, and you don't have quite enough to pay all the bills. If you're fortunate enough to have some money tucked away into a savings account, you might dip into it to make ends meet and hope to replace it later on down the road. 

Until it's all gone. Then what?

That's where Oklahoma is right now. The state has been living paycheck to paycheck, and it simply doesn't have enough money coming in each month to pay all the bills. In fact, it was announced earlier this week that the state's Rainy Day Fund had been depleted. We had to use the last $240 million in our savings account to make it through the month...and there's still three months left in the fiscal year. The folks at the Capitol think there will be enough revenue in April to put that $240 million back in savings...but what if we they're wrong? What if we don't even have enough revenue to pay bills next month? 

I'll tell you what would happen: Agencies will get cut, schools will end the year a few days short, and ultimately Oklahomans will lose their jobs. That's right. It won't be pretty. Just for reference, ending the school year early means that tens of thousands of people get paid less, plus tens of thousands of Oklahoma parents have to scramble to find childcare for a day when their kids should be in school. So, they have to take off of work (if they can), which costs Oklahoma businesses tens of millions of dollars in lost productivity. People will lose wages (or even their actual jobs), and then they'll need to state assistance so that their family doesn't starve. Tell me: How does that help the state move forward? 

It doesn't have to be that way. We don't have to keep cutting and cutting and cutting until we're just a poor, demoralized, shell of a state. There's another, better option. 

We need to bring in more money.

As I said earlier, the I didn't go into the most lucrative career field, and I've faced my share of personal "budget shortfalls." When things have been tight for me, I immediately reduced my expenses as much as I could. I turned off my cable, I stopped going to the movies, I started taking my lunch. When that wasn't enough, I got a second job...and sometimes a third and a forth. Shortly after grad school I worked as an adjunct professor three days a week, mowed lawns two days a week, and saw counseling clients at my office in the evenings...and I still picked up occasional odd jobs, like painting houses, whenever I could. In order to make ends meet after my son was born, I did contract work for a mental health agency in the evenings and did roofing on weekends in addition to working full-time. The point is, we've cut all we can cut, and now we need to look at ways to increase income. If we want things to improve, we must increase how much money the state takes in. If I can do it, the state can do it.

The state only gets money one way: we pay taxes. Now, nobody wants to pay any more taxes than they absolutely have to, but there's a trade-off. You pay taxes, and in return you [should] get a robust public school system that feeds the minds of our children so they can grow up and be productive members of society, roads and bridges that are safe and don't rattle your car to pieces, clean air and water that is safe to consume, laws and policies that give structure to our society so that individuals are protected and businesses thrive and grow, state parks and museums and cultural events to enjoy.

You get what you pay for.

You know it's true. Pretty much anything worthwhile costs money, and nice stuff costs extra. I don't know about you, but I'm sick of Oklahoma being among the worst at everything. Seriously, we're in the top 10 worst for: Obesity. Education. Children in poverty. No health insurance. Cardiovascular deaths, cancer deaths, drug deaths, premature deaths, Deaths at work. Infant deaths. Suicide. Diabetes. Chlamydia. Frequent mental distress, frequent physical distress. Smoking. Median household income. And, you know, just Overall.

Ugh. Let's stop doing that. Instead, let's fix this.

Running a state isn't cheap, but it is a team effort, and we need all hands on deck for this. We need you to understand that you get what you pay for, which means we're all going to need to pay a little bit more in taxes so we can pay for something better.

We need the richest 3 percent of the population to be willing to be a teensy bit less rich so that their fellow Oklahomans who are incredibly poor can not die.

We need big businesses who are making fat profits to do more to prioritize people over profits, otherwise they won't have any employees or customers.

We need legislators of both parties to stop worrying about being one of the popular kids in that big marble high school, to put people over politics, and to vote for increased revenue. 

Together, we can do this. We can fix this.