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Senator Taylor Comments on Keating Tag Phase-in Plan

Statement by Senator Stratton Taylor,
Senate President Pro Tempore

"I'm disappointed that Governor Keating didn't make even the slightest effort to protect education funding in his latest proposal. That's one of the key areas of concern, but the phase-in mechanism advocated by the Governor does nothing to address the multi-million dollar funding losses our public schools will suffer under his proposal. Governor Keating is still taking the same amount of money out of the classroom; he's just not doing it as fast as he originally proposed. Instead of a speedy death, he's offering slow water torture to the public schools. If you're interested in education, that's not much of a compromise."

"The Governor's proposal also ignores the fact that we don't know what the budget picture will look like in three years. If our economy doesn't perform as well as expected, we may not be able to pick up the tab for Governor Keating's tag proposal and still pay all of the state's bills. Given Oklahoma's stormy economic past, it's probably not a very good idea to commit to a $138 million budget hole three years into the future. Maybe the Governor has a better crystal ball than I do, but I'm just not as comfortable gambling with the revenues of future generations."

"While I applaud Governor Keating for agreeing to examine alternatives, I think there are other, more responsible ways to implement a tag reduction. The bill that passed the Senate would lower license plate fees significantly, without draining millions of dollars from education. That's the direction I think we should be heading."

Contact info
Senate Communications Division - (405) 521-5605