Sen. Young releases statement on state budget

OKLAHOMA CITY – Sen. George Young, D-Oklahoma City, released the following statement regarding the state budget for Fiscal Year 2024.

“We have completed the presentation, questioning, and debating of the 2023-24 budget for the State of Oklahoma. As a member of the state Senate, it is one of the two responsibilities of my job. The budget is almost $13 billion, and it seems to be a budget that would include something to help every citizen of the state. I hold that it does. I hold that it is a document that represents the welfare and care of all citizens, however, in my nine years in this role, I have voted against the continued financing of the foundation for our care and welfare.

“This budget touches every aspect of our lives, roads, bridges, education, health, mental health, oversight, law enforcement and governing. The first problem that I would like to point out is that we started this session the first Monday in February, (Actually, we did come in the first Monday in January for what we call Organization Day, where the Pro Tempore took the liberty on the floor to announce the candidacy of his wife for a political office. I digress!) but the first instance of seeing the details of this massive budget was on the day we had to make a decision. That does not make for good governance.

“There are also troubling items within this budget, including setting aside a very large amount of funding for school vouchers, couched in the language of tax credits. The fact that we have so much in savings begs the question as to why there could not have been $200,000 to $300,000 set aside for the Clara Luper Civil Rights Center, when we are helping households that make $75,000 to $250,000 a year to pay for their education expenses for their children that they have chosen to put in private, religious, or home school situations.

“We had a day to complete this process and it falls short of due process, which I think does not serve the needs of Oklahoma citizens.”

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For more information, contact:

Sen. George Young at 405-521-5531, or email George.Young@oksenate.gov.