Following is an excerpt from OCPA’s Proposed State Budget for the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2013.

With Oklahoma government spending at an all-time high (see chart), the time has come to set priorities and to exercise spending discipline.

The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety (DPS) issues thousands of drivers’ licenses per year, but users (those receiving the licenses) are not adequately sharing the burden associated with issuing these licenses. According to information available publicly, taxpayers subsidize DPS’s operation of drivers’ licensing by more than $12 million annually. Driver licensing is a direct regulatory service which should be paid for by those being licensed. Reforms that lead to more efficient and effective licensing, along with requiring users to bear the full cost of the licensing, will allow for the reduction in state subsidies.

The potential savings from implementing such reforms would be more than $12 million annually.

Submitted each year by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, Inc. to the taxpayers of the State of Oklahoma and their elected Officials, the OCPA “Budget Book” is carefully crafted by Fiscal Policy Director Jonathan Small to help lawmakers set priorities and exercise spending discipline while creating a state budget that respects your family budget. Offering unmatched fiscal policy analysis and recommendations, Small draws on his experiences as a former budget analyst for the Oklahoma Office of State Finance, former fiscal policy analyst and research analyst for the Oklahoma House of Representatives, and former director of government affairs for the Oklahoma Insurance Department to provide perspective on the state budget that you cannot find anywhere else.