Agricultural News
Lawmakers Seek Court Order to Block State's Funding of Youth Expo
Tue, 25 Sep 2012 15:29:47 CDT
State Representatives Mike Ritze and Mike Reynolds have filed a motion for a temporary injunction as part of their lawsuit in the Oklahoma County District Court to block the state Department of Agriculture from transferring $2 million in public funds to the Oklahoma Youth Expo Show, a private livestock show held in Oklahoma City each year.
The injunction seeks to preserve the public funds until the court eventually rules on whether the intended expenditure is unconstitutional.
Rep. Ritze said the funding was not included in the fiscal year 2013 state budget agreement and contends that even if it were a line item in the budget the transfer of public monies to a private institution is unconstitutional.
"The state simply has no authority to transfer public funds to private organizations or individuals," said Ritze, R-Broken Arrow. "Since 2002, we have discovered the Department of Agriculture has transferred nearly two-and-a-half million dollars in taxpayer money to the Youth Expo. They know it is illegal, but they do it anyway. We mean to put a stop to it and protect the taxpayers from these types of backroom deals."
In June, Gov. Mary Fallin rejected several requests by lawmakers to block the Department of Agriculture from expending the funds.
Rep. Reynolds said the governor's refusal to block the expenditure has left the lawmakers with no other option than to use the court system to force the government to obey the law.
"I'm not a big proponent of lawsuits, but sometimes that is the only way to get the attention of the state," said Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City. "We have an obligation to the taxpayers to be as judicious as possible with the money we take from them to fund government.
"We have tried to use the legislative process to stop this transfer and have even encouraged the Governor to use her power to block it, but we have been completely ignored. Hopefully, we will get an injunction and that will get their attention."
A hearing to rule on the motion has been scheduled for October 3 at 2 p.m. in the Oklahoma County Courthouse.
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