“His budget proposal is further evidence that his education ideas are election year,” said State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, who is running against Stitt for the governor’s seat this year.
“During a severe teacher shortage and significant learning loss following a pandemic that the governor has all but ignored, it is disconcerting that he is proposing a fixed budget.”
“Oklahoma is 47th in education funding,” said Katherine Bishop, president of the Oklahoma Education Association. “It’s far from the Top 10 in the country. It’s a mystery how we can improve on this ranking if it keeps education flat in this year’s budget.
The Governor’s proposed budget focuses on funding critical items with an emphasis on keeping the recurrent spending base in line with current levels of recurring revenue.
Its budget supports one-time expenditures, such as funds for the Legislative Assembly to accomplish the redistribution, which was completed last year.
One-time expenditures taken out of the budget total $283 million.
The budget also holds its office at current levels, nearly $3.6 million.
Executive’s budget proposal would not replenish $10 million given to Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor last session to fight ‘federal excess of power’ and pursue lawsuits against the federal government. Some lawmakers have expressed support for additional funds for this purpose.
