The Oklahoma legislature is poised to deal a major blow to non-profits and faith-based organizations who help administer the WIC program.  The Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program is a federally-funded, state-administered nutrition service for low-income women, infants and children under five.  WIC subsidizes nutritious foods, infant formula, education on healthy eating and breastfeeding, and screening and referrals for other health and welfare services.

On average in 2010, Oklahoma WIC clinics provided 133,002 low-income mothers $37.18 dollars in food and formula each month.  WIC clinics are operated by health departments, tribal governments, faith-based organizations, community health centers and non-profits.  For instance, the clinic in Variety Health Center in south Oklahoma City serves an average of 8,066 low-income women and children each month.  The Edmond Ministerial Alliance’s Hope Center Health Clinic serves 1,611 average monthly participants. Read the rest of this entry »

By now, it is well known that the state budget has been under severe duress over the past two years. Overall, as we show in the latest version of our Budget Trends and Highlights fact sheet, this year’s state appropriations of $6.714 billion are some $400 million, or 6.1 percent, less than the budget of two years ago. Over half of all appropriated state agencies have absorbed cuts of 15 percent or more over the past two years.

Yet if most people know that there have been overall cuts in funding, what is less clear are the specific measures that agencies have adopted in response to funding reductions and the impact these measures have had on services and programs. Particularly as we face the real possibility of deeper funding cuts next year and, potentially, for several years after that, understanding the impact of acute and extended budget shortfalls on public services will be essential for policymakers and the public alike.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) is among the agencies that has been hard hit by cuts over the past two years. In FY ’09, OSDH received state appropriations of $75.0 million. This amount was reduced by $6.1 million in FY ’10 and an additional $5.2 million in FY ’11, for a total two-year cut of $11.3 million, or 15.1 percent. Read the rest of this entry »

While discussing the state of public health in Oklahoma with a House health appropriations subcommittee, Health Commissioner Terry Cline warned that “Oklahoma is about to become the public health joke of the country.” With Oklahoma standing at 49th in overall health outcomes, ranking above only Mississippi, additional cuts to the Oklahoma  State Department of Health (OSDH) could drop the state’s public health ranking to the very bottom.

The committee has asked all agencies to report how they would be affected by additional cuts of 10, 15 or 20 percent in FY ’11. For OSDH, a 10 percent cut would equate to a $6.8 million funding drop. Read the rest of this entry »

Last month, we surveyed some of the budget cuts that state agencies were being forced to implement as result of the state’s revenue shortfalls. Since then, the grim news continues to spread deeper into core programs, affecting major services like education, social services, and infrastructure. Our intern, Matt Garder, provides this round-up of coverage from the state’s newspapers of some of the actions that state agencies, cities, and school boards have announced in recent weeks to address budget shortfall, as well as looming cuts on the horizon: Read the rest of this entry »

As revenues have come in significantly below estimates this year, funding to state agencies was cut 5 percent a month from August to November and 10 percent each month since (see our updated fact sheet). OK Policy’s intern Matt Gardner has been tracking media reports of the ways that cuts in state funding over the course of the downturn. He provides this report of some of what’s transpired in recent months.

Budget cuts in recent months appear to have affected Oklahomans from all walks of life. Many agencies have been forced to cut jobs, offer bailouts, or implement furlough days, but cuts have required agencies to go further and eliminate services altogether.

Some examples:

• The Bill Willis Community Mental Health Center faces more cuts, despite having eliminated its 20-bed men’s substance abuse program. That was to save $1.2 million. Now, the center has been asked to trim $300,000 more. According to Executive Director Margaret Bradford, “without this type of treatment you’re going to see more and more people end up in the criminal justice system,” costing the state more money than the treatment. Read the rest of this entry »

“The sky is falling!” clearly would make a more compelling headline, but in the case of state agencies trying to deal with the  continuing pressures of rising costs, increasing responsibilities, and flat funding, the reality is less dramatic but no less serious.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health testified of the ever-tightening budget grip to a House subcommittee last week:

Interim Health Commissioner Rocky McElvany told the House health appropriations subcommittee that rising costs for employee insurance and benefits have forced the agency not to replace nearly 200 employees since September 2007.lost about 100 county health workers during the 2008 fiscal year, he said.

Many of the employees were health-care professionals who provided services across the state, including in county health departments, who either retired or left for higher-paying jobs, McElvany said. “Realistically, these cuts are starting to hamper our ability to provide services,” he said.

Read the rest of this entry »