Miller Not Onboard With Proposed Budget Cycle Plan
Oklahoma treasurer finds fault with two-year budget idea of Gov. Mary Fallin and her opponent, Joe Dorman
By Rick Green, NewsOK.com
At their debate last week, Gov. Mary Fallin and her Democratic opponent, Joe Dorman, had a rare moment of agreement in their opinion that the Oklahoma Legislature should set the state’s budget on a two-year cycle, instead of the current annual basis.
Monday, state Treasurer Ken Miller, who holds a doctorate in economics, called that a really bad idea.
“I’m completely against going to a two-year budget,” Miller said in his monthly news conference. “With the volatility of our revenue sources, that would be very difficult to do.”
State officials have been hard-pressed to predict revenue accurately even during yearly budget cycles. That’s because corporate income tax and oil industry taxes can be hard to predict. Also, Oklahoma relies on sales and income taxes, which rise and fall with the economy. He said that if budgeting were done on a two-year cycle, the Legislature would likely have to come back in special session to adjust spending, which would defeat the purpose of the change.
Miller said he favors an approach suggested by Rep. Randy Grau, R-Edmond, in which the budget would still be written every year, but policy votes would only take place every other year.