Oklahoma's state Treasurer Ken Miller says the Rainy Day Fund served its purpose. Most of the nearly $600 million was used to help with budget shortfalls the past two years.
NewsOK
BY MICHAEL MCNUTT mmcnutt@opubco.com, Oklahoman
Published: January 23, 2011
The state's savings account, which had swelled to an all-time high of nearly $600 million just two years ago, is down to one of its lowest levels.
Most Oklahomans with a savings account likely can boast they have more than the $2.03 remaining in the Rainy Day Fund.
“The Rainy Day Fund functioned as it was intended to function,” state Treasurer Ken Miller said. “It is an emergency savings account like many families have and you draw down from that emergency fund at your time of greatest need. Certainly, the past two budget cycles have been dire as we've gone through this great recession.”
Revenue collections for the state began falling in 2009 as effects of the national recession were felt here. Lawmakers approved a record $7.1 billion budget for the 2009 fiscal year, and anticipated a $7.2 billion budget for the 2010 fiscal year, which began July 1, 2009. But revenues came in about 17 percent below estimates, and legislators used Rainy Day funds and federal stimulus funds to revise the budget to about $6.9 billion... FULL ARTICLE
Posted on
Sun, January 23, 2011
by John Cox