Budget hole may reach $600M

Early projections are that the Oklahoma Legislature will have to grapple with a deficit of as much as $600 million in next year’s budget, Gov. Mary Fallin said Wednesday.

Fallin said she expects a projected shortfall of between $500 million and $600 million when the State Board of Equalization meets next week to certify available revenues. The governor said that figure includes about $245 million in one-time sources of money that were spent on this year’s budget.

The anticipated shortfall is expected to pose a major challenge for the Oklahoma Legislature, which was forced to slash state agency budgets last year in response to a significant revenue shortfall.

Total General Revenue Fund collections for fiscal year 2016 ended up totaling $5.2 billion, which was $521.9 million, or 9.1 percent, below prior year collections.

State agencies eliminated 609 jobs during the first half of 2016 as they struggled to deal with the fallout from revenue shortfalls that were attributed largely to cyclical declines in Oklahoma’s oil and gas industry.

The Oklahoma Department of Human Services, Department of Public Safety, Health Department, Office of Management and Enterprise Services, Office of Juvenile Affairs and Employment Security Commission were among the agencies that used voluntary employee buyouts to reduce costs.

Nearly 4 percent of public school teacher positions in Oklahoma were eliminated last year as districts across the state dealt with budget cuts and a shortage of trained

teachers.

Fallin said she’s optimistic that an increase in the price of oil and natural gas could reduce the shortfall in next year’s state budget before the final revenue estimate is certified in February.

Despite the shortfall, Fallin said a pay raise for Oklahoma teachers will be a priority next year.

Voters defeated a state question in November that would have raised the state sales tax by a penny to pay for $5,000 teacher pay raises and other educational expenditures.

Many lawmakers have vowed to push for a teacher pay raise again in the upcoming legislative session.

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