Budget & Tax
Trent England | May 1, 2017
The Bogus Budget: Space Cadets Edition
Trent England
When is a cut not a cut?
We have all heard the claims: State agencies have been cut to the bone. To some, this tale of cuts and woe has all the truthiness they need to repeat it over and over.
Yes, the appropriated amount of funds going to many state agencies has declined over the last year or two. Yet many of these same agencies are nevertheless spending more money than ever before.
In this first of our Bogus Budget series, we offer the example of one small but illustrative Oklahoma agency, our Space Industry Development Authority. While the legislature has appropriated less money to the agency for each of the last three years, the agency’s total spending has rocketed skyward.
These numbers come from the Oklahoma State Senate, which provides legislators and the public with both the appropriated budget figures and the total spending figures for each state agency.
Over the next few weeks, OCPA will provide charts like this for various state agencies. You may be surprised how many areas of state government are spending more than ever while their leaders and lobbyists plead poverty and demand tax hikes.
Stay tuned: follow us on Facebook for updates.
Trent England
David and Ann Brown Distinguished Fellow
Trent England is the David and Ann Brown Distinguished Fellow at the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, where he previously served as executive vice president. He is also the founder and executive director of Save Our States, which educates Americans about the importance of the Electoral College. England is a producer of the feature-length documentary “Safeguard: An Electoral College Story.” He has appeared three times on Fox & Friends and is a frequent guest on media programs from coast to coast. He is the author of Why We Must Defend the Electoral College and a contributor to The Heritage Guide to the Constitution and One Nation Under Arrest: How Crazy Laws, Rogue Prosecutors, and Activist Judges Threaten Your Liberty. His writing has also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Times, Hillsdale College's Imprimis speech digest, and other publications. Trent formerly hosted morning drive-time radio in Oklahoma City and has filled for various radio hosts including Ben Shapiro. A former legal policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation, he holds a law degree from The George Mason University School of Law and a bachelor of arts in government from Claremont McKenna College.