THE CONSERVATIVE VIEW

BY RUSSELL TURNER

LICKING THE CALF OVER

All of us know the significance of April the 15^th, it is the date that we are given to have our tax bills paid off. Taxpayers know that it is mandatory to get their accounting in order and have a payment sent in. We taxpayers know that if we fail to comply there will be penalties enforced; at the very least it will cost us some of our hard earned money. Our State Legislature also has a duty to the taxpayers to have our state budget in order by the last Friday in May.

Our legislative session here in Oklahoma runs from the first week in February until the last Friday in May. Many times our legislature fails to complete its work and a special session has to be called. Only last year the legislature had to go into special session for five days; that special session cost the taxpayers around $100,000.00 dollars. Almost everyone can think of a more productive way to spend that much money. In the upcoming session there is some legislation that could stimulate our lawmakers to be more efficient with their time.

A proposed constitutional amendment filed by state Rep. Sally Kern will force state lawmakers to take a pay cut if a special legislative session is required to complete the state budget. When you get down to the bottom line, the main function of the legislature is to spend the taxpayer money. If the budget is not finished in the allotted time, House Joint Resolution 1001 would reduce the legislative pay while the members were in special session. The Senate President Pro Tempore, Speaker of the House, and the minority leaders of both chambers would forfeit one-third of their salary for the month of the special session. All other members would lose 25 percent of their income that month if a special session occurs for budget reasons.