Oklahoman: Huge Budget Requests Called ‘Unrealistic’
Huge budget requests called ‘unrealistic’
by Rick Green, The Oklahoman
State agencies frequently ask the Legislature for more money than they end up receiving, but this year is a doozy.
Despite a huge budget hole, the wish list for appropriations is something to behold. Corrections wants a billion dollars more than it is currently receiving. Common education wants an extra half-billion. Higher education and the Department of Human Services also want significantly more.
The result is that requests already exceed current-year appropriations, even though most agencies still haven’t weighed in yet on their funding needs.
How to pay for it all?