Senator Gumm Discusses Fight Over Senior Nutrition
March 2nd, 2010
OKLAHOMA CITY – Following is a statement from Senator Jay Paul Gumm of Durant on the fight underway in the Legislature over whether to restore funding to Oklahoma’s senior nutrition system that was cut by the Human Services Commission last summer:
From day the cut happened, I have been fighting to restore funding to the senior nutrition sites. Monday, on the Senate floor, a battle began on this critical issue.
Several of my colleagues and I took the unusual step of voting against two bills that are part of the agreement between the Democratic governor and Republican legislative leaders to plug holes in this year’s state budget. The reason we took this step is simple; this budget agreement fails to restore funding to many of Oklahoma’s senior nutrition centers.
On Monday, the Senate considered a slew of budget bills designed to contend with the continued reduction in revenues caused by the recession. In all, we were asked to spend almost $240 million dollars out of the Rainy Day Fund and almost as much in federal stimulus dollars.
To restore senior nutrition funding for the remainder of this fiscal year would cost only $2.5 million. Let’s put that figure in perspective: It is less than one percent of what we were asked to spend in supplemental appropriations.
The budget agreement takes care of some critical needs, to be sure. But one glaring omission in the agreement is its failure to restore senior nutrition center funding. These nutrition sites not only to provide hot meals to seniors, but a place for the fellowship our seniors need.
The question is this: What public purpose is served by denying seniors a hot meal? That’s the question that should be asked, and that is what we are doing.
This is a political battle, of course; but, helping our seniors is far more important than any partisan political purpose. Further, the only way the agreement crumbles and other functions of government endure cuts is if those who crafted it continue to ignore the plight of seniors who deserve, if nothing else, a hot meal.
Certainly, Oklahoma’s senior citizens are worth $2.5 million – again, less than one percent of the money that was spent Monday. I have great confidence that an agreement can be struck. The key is if leaders on both sides of the aisle forget politics, don’t worry about who gets the credit, do the right thing, cut the deal, fund senior nutrition, declare victory, and then everyone can win.
It has been said that politics is the art of the possible. Finding a solution that restores funding to senior nutrition centers is not only “possible,” it is – without a doubt – the right thing to do.
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