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GOP Road Plan Would Steal $1.4 Billion from Education

Republicans are recklessly misleading Oklahomans when they claim the House Republicans’ road maintenance scheme won’t dramatically slash funding for education and other vital state services, State Senator Kenneth Corn said Thursday.

The Poteau Democrat said the House plan would rob $1.4 billion from education over the next 15 years

The measure, House Bill 1218, won approval in the Senate Thursday and is likely headed for a Senate-House Conference Committee.

Corn said it is important that conferees know all the facts concerning the House Republicans’ plan to divert motor vehicle fees from the state’s General Revenue to pay for highway maintenance.

Citing data provided by the Oklahoma Tax Commission, Corn said the claims by Rep. Jim Newport and Senator David Myers, authors of the measure, that the plan can be funded through growth in motor vehicle collections are completely unrealistic.

Over the last five years, the state’s motor vehicle collections have declined 3.5 percent. The Republicans’ claim that their plan won’t take money out of our classrooms and away from public safety programs and services for senior citizens assumes that over the next five years, collections will increase by 30 percent, Corn said.

“That’s more than just being optimistic or even unrealistic. They are knowingly and willingly misleading the public,” Corn said.

According to the 2004 Annual Vehicle Registration Report by the Oklahoma Tax Commission, state motor vehicle collections decreased by $11 million from Fiscal Year 2001 through Fiscal Year 2004. The State Equalization Board’s certified projection for the current fiscal year indicates collections are expected to drop another $6 million.

The Republican plan assumes $15 million of growth in collections for Fiscal Year 2006. The Equalization Board’s certified estimate is for a $3 million decrease next year and, so far this year, collections are more than 2 percent below the official projection.

“They expect collections that have fallen by $20 million over the last five years to suddenly shoot up like Jack’s bean stalk – growing by $170 million in the next five years,” Corn said. “Unless, Rep. Newport has some magic beans in his pocket, I think that sounds like a fairy tale.”

To make the Republican plan work, Oklahoma would have to see:

n A 9 percent increase in the number of registered vehicles by 2010, when since 2001 the number of registered vehicles has dropped by 1.1 percent;

n Growth in motor vehicle collections of more than $30 million for four consecutive years, when only once in the last five years have collections grown by more than $30 million in a single year.

“Despite what Rep. Newport and Senator Myers continue to say in the halls of the Legislature and in press releases, there is absolutely no reason to believe that motor vehicle collections are going to increase substantially over the next five years,” Corn said. “What that means is that their plan is going to rob money from our schools.”

Corn said the FY 2006 projection for motor vehicle collections is $563 million – of that $252 million is expected to be deposited in the state’s general revenue fund.

Without the highly improbable growth predicted by the Republicans, House Bill 1218 will shrink the general revenue fund available for education, public safety programs and senior citizens services to just $82 million for FY 2010 and beyond.

“Education gets 60 cents out of very dollar of general revenue. When the Republican highway plan robs $170 million of general revenue, education will take a $100 million hit,” Corn said.

Corn said the Senate Democrats’ 2020 Plan for Bridges and Roads won’t steal money from Oklahoma’s public school classrooms and college campuses because it will make use of growth revenue that has already been certified for appropriation in Fiscal Year 2006.

“We don’t have to make any unrealistic claims for our plan to work. We can replace more than 300 bridges and repair 500 others without taking money from education. We can resurface more than 2,000 miles of state roads and pay off the existing highway bond indebtedness without threatening the quality of our children’s education,” Corn said.

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Senate Communications Office- (405) 521-5774