Tag: budget cuts

Too much of a good thing? Exceeding Rainy Day Fund cap would leave critical needs underfunded

Our healthy fiscal outlook provides a great opportunity to build on the progress made last year by making sizeable investments in critical needs that have long gone unmet. However, Governor Kevin Stitt, in his FY 2020 budget blueprint, suggested going in a different direction. The Governor’s approach would tilt the budget too heavily towards savings at the expense of key investments that are urgently needed to promote Oklahoma’s prosperity and well-being. [More...]

A closer look at Governor Fallin’s FY 2014 budget

On Monday, Governor Mary Fallin delivered her State of the State address and presented her FY 2014 Executive Budget. As we noted in our public statement, the Governor has proposed much more modest tax cuts than she did last year… Read more [More...]

Revenue forecast confirms need for continued caution

In late December, the Board of Equalization certified a preliminary estimate of the revenues available for next year’s budget. The numbers confirm that while the worst of the fiscal crisis is now far behind us, the state remains in the… Read more [More...]

Cliff, slope, or hostage crisis?

Since the election, Washington DC has been consumed by debate over the “fiscal cliff,” a number of large spending cuts and tax increases set to take effect at the beginning of next year. Due to the spending cuts, Oklahoma would… Read more [More...]

What the coming federal budget cuts mean for education in Oklahoma

Last summer, Congress agreed to automatic budget cuts as part of a deal to increase the federal debt ceiling. Commonly known as sequestration, these cuts would eliminate $1.2 trillion in spending over the next decade. The cuts will be divided… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma's per pupil spending has plummeted

Oklahoma’s economy has performed relatively well over the course of the Great Recession, compared to the nation as a whole. We’ve had lower unemployment numbers and decent income growth. Yet you wouldn’t know it to look at the state of… Read more [More...]

For Oklahoma voters, education funding cuts are a major concern

As students head back to school this month, they will encounter an education system facing a crisis in funding. Over the past four years, state support for public schools has been slashed by $220 million, or  11 percent, while school… Read more [More...]

Getting what we pay for

We’ve seen plenty of examples of cuts to our state’s core services in recent years, as well as chronic underfunding that is causing us to fall short of many of our common goals. One of the most dramatic examples is… Read more [More...]

Federal aid to Oklahoma under the ax in Ryan budget plan

Without new revenue, federal deficit reduction efforts will lead to devastating cuts in federal support for education, transportation, law enforcement, the social safety net,  and other state and local programs, according to a new report from the  Center on Budget… Read more [More...]

The shrinking state employee workforce

In the wake of three consecutive years of steep budget cuts, the number of state employees staffing correctional facilities, inspecting restaurants and nursing homes, serving victims of abuse and neglect, and performing other public functions has declined sharply. In FY… Read more [More...]