Local lawmakers are forecasting rain in Oklahoma this legislative session, which began Monday, hoping showers from the state's $600 million rainy day reserve will restore wilted state agencies from the $1.3 billion budget drought.
"Gov. Henry could not have been more right when he said the rainy day had arrived in Oklahoma," said state Sen. John Sparks, D-Norman, after Henry's final State of the State address Monday afternoon. Henry warned against balancing the budget on the backs of vulnerable state agencies.
But state Rep. Scott Martin, R-Norman, said the state should be frugal in its spending, as it tries to stand upright from the global and statewide economic lag.
"We have to be very mindful now not only of how we use our additional funds but how we make our cuts," Martin said of the governor's proposal to spare core state agencies such as education, mental health and public safety from further cuts. "I have to remind myself that Oklahoma is not an island. We're in a country facing a huge economic downturn."
Revenues for the state have come in at 25.6 percent below projections for the first six months of the fiscal year, which began July 1.
And while local lawmakers agreed it was difficult for the governor to ignore -- during his address to both chambers of the Republican-led Legislature -- the looming question of the state's strategy toward crawling out of its $1.3 billion shortfall budget hole, many said Henry failed to specifically outline a plan to resurrect the economy, beyond tapping into its rainy day fund and wielding the "budget knife carefully."
"I thought the speech was just uneventful. It was a nice walk down memory lane, but it was lacking in substantial policy proposals," said state Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore. "We agree that we need more targeted surgical cuts that hold core areas harmless, but he doesn't go into the detail. He just dedicates the responsibility to us."
State Rep. Bill Nations, D-Norman, who is term-limited this session, warned, along with Henry, that further cuts to state agencies wouldn't be efficient, swiping instead programs that would be difficult to restore.
"Slashing government spending can make for catchy campaign rhetoric, but rhetoric has ramifications -- human ramifications -- that demand to be considered," said Henry, pausing to reflect on the teachers who instruct children, crews who maintain highways and state troopers and correctional officers who keep the state's citizens safe.
State Rep. Wallace Collins, D-Norman, agreed, adding that reductions to these core agencies would swing the state backward into a "false economy."
Henry then asked lawmakers to lay aside funds to pay for the state's Insure Oklahoma Program, which subsidizes health insurance premiums for some small businesses and individuals. Henry also said he would stifle any efforts to further reduce teachers' pay or classroom resources.
"It's going to be a very difficult session. I hope there aren't talks for tax cuts for Pete's sake," Nations said.
Sen. Jonathan Nichols, R-Norman, could not be reached by press time.
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