Brogdon: Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda Passed TABOR?

Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda Passed TABOR?
Brogdon says spending limit needed to control growth of government

(Oklahoma City)- “Don’t fear the budget cuts if TABOR passes, fear the budget cuts if TABOR doesn’t pass.” That’s what Senator Randy Brogdon used to say to opponents of the taxpayer bill of rights. Time has proven him correct.

A spending limitation law is the answer according to the Senator. He says Oklahoma’s current spending limit is too easily ignored. Prior to the current revenue drops, “we increased spending between 6% and 13% every year,” while the Oklahoma economy grew little more than 3% in those same years.

Brogdon says, “Allowing Government to grow three or four times faster than the economy is unsustainable as we have found out over and over again.”

Senator Brogdon says Oklahoma has a spending problem. In five of the last ten years Oklahoma has failed meet proposed spending levels. “If you can’t pay your bills half of the time, you are spending too much money,” said Brogdon.

In fact, state government’s failure to meet budget demands has resulted in drastic, monthly, across the board budget cuts in state agencies and services with little regard for need. “The decisions we should have made for ourselves are being made for us by the balanced budget law,” said Brogdon.

Brogdon acknowledges that passing TABOR would not have prevented the national economic problems that led to the most recent collapse in state revenue. He notes, “it would have given us the opportunity to make our spending decisions based on need. We would also have spent less money and have a third more funds in reserve.”

Brogdon, a candidate for Governor, says spending increases should be limited to the percent increase in inflation and population. “This allows government to grow at a sustainable pace in conjunction with the growth of the economy. This will be a top priority as Governor of Oklahoma.”

One difference Brogdon notes from the last TABOR proposal, “state revenue collected in excess of the spending limit can be used for one time capital expenditures. This will allow Oklahoma to address pressing bridge and road repairs without adding to the budget baseline.”

Brogdon states that he is the only candidate for Governor likely to make a spending law a priority. “Congresswoman Fallin has never spoken in favor of spending limits, Lt. Governor Askins has opposed them, and Attorney General Edmondson tried to put the grassroots organizers of TABOR in prison.”


You can learn more about Brogdon's candidacy by visiting his website. His opponent in the Republican primary is Congresswoman Mary Fallin.