Budget Cuts Still Top Of Mind
Oklahoma lawmakers discuss budget cuts
by Rick Green
Key players representing the Oklahoma House, Senate and the governor’s office have been working late hours trying to hash out a budget that covers a $611 million funding shortfall.
Most areas of state government will receive cuts, but discussions are continuing about the size of the reductions for some state agencies.
“There may be a few holdups over how deep they want to cut the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, how deep they want to cut higher education and maybe a few other areas,” House Democratic Leader Scott Inman, of Del City, said Friday.
Sen. Clark Jolley, R-Edmond, said earlier that education and health care make up the lion’s share of the budget, and disagreement over the percentage of cuts for a couple of large state agencies can equate to a multimillion-dollar difference of opinion.