On April 18, the Oklahoma Policy Institute stood alongside more than 20 nonprofit, grassroots, and professional organizations (TARC was one of those organizations!) representing hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans on the front lines of public service and community engagement at a press conference at the Capitol to ask lawmakers to address our state’s universally-known revenue and budget problems by adopting the Save Our State Budget.
This budget was built on the belief that Oklahomans deserve a budget that will place Oklahoma on a sustainable path by getting away from budget gimmicks.
- Place Oklahoma on a sustainable path by getting away from budget gimmicks.
- Prevent drastic cuts to state services.
- Invest in core government services like education, public safety, healthcare, and transportation.
The budget is a responsible three-year blueprint for a better budget based upon the following principles:
- 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.
From the TARC perspective, this budget addresses the critical need to continue existing commitments to individuals with developmental disabilities already receiving services and expanding services to those on the DDS waiting list for Waiver Services. This proposed budget embodies the advocacy goals we have set for TARC.
The full budget plan can be downloaded at the Save Our State website at http://saveourstateok.org
The website has a “take action” link in the upper right corner. Please make use of this resource as well as contacting your legislators and asking them to support this plan. People with developmental disabilities and their families will benefit.
