OKPOLICY.ORG
Just a day after Governor Brad Henry signed the state budget for FY ’10, Oklahoma Policy Institute released its annual budget review. And the new fiscal year, which starts July 1, promises to be an interesting one:
all agencies face a tight and difficult year ahead as they wrestle with increases in mandatory operating expenses and, for some, rising caseloads in a downturn, with flat or reduced funding.
This year, the adoption of the budget is just the start of a process that will unfold over the next 13 months. Agencies must allocate appropriated and other funds to their programs, figure out how they’ll cover all these built-in cost increases, adjust service levels and, in all probability, adjust again later in the year. We won’t know until next June or later how it all worked out.
But it does start at the beginning, and that’s where our budget review helps. It is the first comprehensive look at the budget process and the outcomes it led to. Here’s what you’ll find inside:
- Analysis of the speedy drop in available state revenue.
- Details of how federal stimulus money and state revenue changes allowed the overall budget to grow slightly.
- A rundown of how individual agencies fared and what that says about state priorities.
- Further analysis of problems to watch for as the year unfolds.
- A look ahead to the FY ’11 budget and beyond.
- Recommendations to improve budgeting processes and to increase funding of state services in the economic recovery.
Once you’ve read the budget brief, you’ll be caught up with us and ready to see the rest of the budget picture develop.
