Oklahoma Hospital Group Comes Out Against SQ 744

NewsOn6.com

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The Oklahoma Hospital Association is coming out against a ballot measure to increase education spending.

Officials from the group said Tuesday that passage of State Question 744 would devastate health care funding in Oklahoma, in part by reducing federal health care matching funds by $343 million.

"The Oklahoma Hospital Association believes it is unwise to take funding away from much-needed medical services when Oklahoma already ranks extremely low in most health status measures," Craig W. Jones, president, Oklahoma Hospital Association, said in a statement Tuesday.

The proposed constitutional amendment would require Oklahoma within three years to meet the regional average of per-student spending in surrounding states. It will be on the November ballot.

Estimates on how much the proposal would cost Oklahoma during the next three years range from about $900 million to $1.7 billion.

Yes on 744 spokesman Walton Robinson says the OHA's claims are unrealistic and amount to "scare tactics."

9/30/2010 Related Story: Will State Question 744 Help Or Hurt Oklahoma?

The Associated Press contributed to this report