Durant Daily Democrat
by SEAN MURPHY, Associated Press writer
2/12/2011
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — If Oklahoma legislators elect to ignore Gov. Mary Fallin's plan to shield education, health care and public safety from deep cuts in next year's budget, they'll have to develop their own ideas for dealing with an expected $600 million shortfall.
Fallin last week presented her way of doing it — consolidate state agencies and services, shift to a two-year system on car tags and issue bonds to pay for transportation and other projects — but fiscal analysts fear all of her projected cost savings won't add up. That would leave it to lawmakers to make even more drastic cuts in state programs decimated by two years of dwindling revenues.
"That's exactly what will have to occur," said Secretary of State Glenn Coffee, last year's Senate president pro tem and now Fallin's chief budget negotiator. "Either the Legislature comes up with alternative proposals . or there will have to be deeper cuts."
Oklahoma is facing an anticipated budget shortfall of $600 million for the upcoming fiscal year, and Fallin in her budget calculated savings of more than $270 million by consolidating information technology, or IT, services at state agencies, imposing a hard hiring freeze on IT positions and streamlining other state services like purchasing and electronic payments... FULL ARTICLE
Posted on
Sat, February 12, 2011
by John Cox