Senator Hobson Comments on OSF Spending Report, Disappointed by Keating's Latest Assault on Education

Statement from Senator Cal Hobson,
Vice-chairman, Senate Appropriations Committee:

"All of this talk about government spending is just another back door attempt by the Keating administration to attack education. Anyone who knows anything about the state budget knows that the lion's share of growth revenue has been directed to our public schools. When Governor Keating and his people say we're spending too much on government, what they're really saying is we're investing too much money in education. The Governor has been pushing that flawed argument for three years, trying to cut education, even though Oklahoma currently ranks in the bottom five nationally in school expenditures.

Presumably, Governor Keating is also upset about all the money we've been spending on prisons to lock violent criminals up. By far, corrections has been the fastest growing budget expenditure in recent years. In fact, we had the second largest increase in prison expenditures in the country last year.

I guess Governor Keating is saying we should spend less on education and prisons, and devote more money to tax breaks for his friends. That may benefit Frank Keating and his associates, but it's not in the best interest of Oklahoma.

One of the most interesting aspects of the OSF report is the amount government spending has increased under the Keating administration in the past three years. If you want to buy into their argument that all government growth is bad, then Governor Keating is one of the biggest liberal spenders in state history."