Justin Forney worked for the state Department of Health for 12 years as a public information officer, stationed in several county health departments, including Logan County.

Then, in the wake of a financial crisis that shook the department, Forney lost his job in March – the result of cuts of nearly 200 health department positions.

Forney is still unemployed. And on Thursday, as the news rolled out statewide that a grand jury had found the agency’s reported cash shortfall never happened, he felt a sense of shock.

He got a text from a former co-worker: “This was all for nothing?”

Read the complete story on OklahomaWatch.org

Preston Doerflinger resigned from the governor’s Cabinet and as interim director of the state Health Department on Tuesday after 2012 police reports surfaced alleging that he committed domestic violence against his then-wife.

The state Board of Health accepted Doerflinger’s immediate resignation Tuesday afternoon after an executive session. Gov. Mary Fallin put out a statement later Tuesday acknowledging that Doerflinger also had resigned as her as Cabinet secretary of finance, administration and information technology.

The Frontier, a Tulsa website, reported on Monday that Tulsa police responded to a 911 call hang up at Doerflinger’s house in 2012, where Doerflinger’s then-wife said he had choked her twice during an argument. She decided not to pursue charges.

“I was unaware of the personal situation involving Preston and his ex-wife almost six years ago,” Fallin said in a prepared statement on Doerflinger’s resignation. “Mrs. Doerflinger did not contact my office about this matter. I take domestic violence very seriously, but I will take Mrs. Doerflinger at her word that this matter was not a case of domestic violence. I respect Preston’s decision to move on from his government service, and wish him and his family the best.”

Read the complete story on tulsaworld.com

ADVISORY: House Special Investigation Committee to Meet Monday

OKLAHOMA CITY – The chair of the House Special Investigation Committee today said the Committee plans to meet on Monday, December 11 with three state officials to begin their inquiry into how the apparent financial mismanagement at the Oklahoma Department of Health occurred.

The Committee has invited Preston Doerflinger, acting director of the Department of Health, Denise Northrup, acting director of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, and Chris Benge, chief of staff for Gov. Mary Fallin, to appear. Last week, all three state officials informed the Committee that they would voluntarily appear.

The meeting will be held at 9:30 a.m. in Room 206 at the state Capitol. The meeting will be streamed live on the House website at www.okhouse.gov and will be open to the public.

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House Special Investigation Committee Serves Subpoenas to State Officials

OKLAHOMA CITY – The chair of the House Special Investigation Committee today served three state officials with subpoenas to appear before the committee and produce evidence related to apparent financial mismanagement at the Oklahoma Department of Health.

Subpoenas were served to Preston Doerflinger, director of the Office of Management Enterprise Services and acting director of the Department of Health, Denise Northrup, acting director of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, and Chris Benge, chief of staff for Gov. Mary Fallin. Rep. Cockroft said additional subpoenas are being drafted and will be delivered in the coming days.

The Special Investigation Committee was formed by House Speaker Charles McCall (R-Atoka) to begin conducting an investigation into the Department of Health’s use of taxpayer dollars.

“The mismanagement of more than $30 million in taxpayer dollars is incredibly frustrating for citizens and the members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives,” said Rep. Cockroft, R-Wanette. “It is inexcusable. Our constituents want answers, and we intend to find out how and why this happened. This is not a criminal investigation. Those are being handled by our law enforcement entities. But the Legislature has the sole authority and responsibility to appropriate taxpayer dollars, and we intend to make sure that is being done according to the law and for the intended purposes that those funds were appropriated.”

Article V Section 30 of the Oklahoma Constitution gives the Legislature the power to investigate governmental misconduct, and Section 7 of the House Rules empower legislative committees to “inspect and investigate the books, records, papers, documents, data, operation and physical plant of any public agency in this state.” The House Rules further authorize House committees to subpoena witnesses and compel testimony and production of evidence.

The committee will focus its investigation into the finances, state appropriations and other financial resources of the Department of Health and how they were managed. The scope of the committee’s investigation could expand to other agencies.

The Investigation Committee will hold several meetings the week of December 18-22.

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October GRF receipts 0.6% above estimate
No indication current trend to yield significant growth in next fiscal year

OKLAHOMA CITY — General Revenue Fund collections in October were $436.4 million and came $2.5 million, 0.6 percent, above the monthly estimate. Coincidentally, the year-to-date estimate also came in above by 0.6 percent. There was improvement in nearly every category from last year, as expected.

“A revenue failure does not seem to be in the forecast, but neither does a healthy surplus, so maintaining FY 18 levels of funding to core services will require continued discussion, cooperation and effort,” said Secretary of Finance, Administration and Information Technology Preston L. Doerflinger. “If the Legislature desires a different path forward, I urge them to begin putting those plans together now so they can be discussed during the next regular session.”

Sales tax improved $26.5 million year-over-year with a large portion of that coming from the $9.5 million collected from motor vehicle sales tax. Gross production continued to gain with an improvement of $9.8 million, or 75.7 percent, above year-over-year estimates, corporate income tax contributed nothing to the GRF this month.

“As we look ahead to the 2018 regular session with a structural deficit likely over $650 million, anyone who thinks we can somehow overcome that before the December Board of Equalization meeting is mistaken,” said Doerflinger. “No one at 23rd and Lincoln should take their foot off the gas in looking for solutions to funding core services.”

As state government’s main operating fund, the GRF is the key indicator of state government’s fiscal status and the predominant funding source for the annual appropriated state budget. GRF collections are revenues that remain for the appropriated state budget after rebates, refunds and mandatory apportionments. Gross collections, reported by the State Treasurer, are all revenues collected by the state before rebates, refunds and mandatory apportionments.

Doerflinger is Secretary of Finance, Revenue and Information Technology and is currently serving as interim commissioner of the Oklahoma State Department of Health. Denise Northrup is the interim director of OMES which issues the monthly GRF reports.

Major tax categories in October contributed the following amounts to the GRF:

• Total income tax collections of $162.6 million were $12.0 million, or 8.0 percent, above the estimate and $1.8 million, or 1.1 percent, above the prior year.
• Individual income tax collections of $162.6 million were $12.0 million, or 8.0 percent, above the estimate and $1.8 million, or 1.1 percent, above the prior year.
• Corporate income tax collections were a net zero.
• Sales tax collections of $175.7 million were $7.3 million, or 4.3 percent, above the estimate and $26.5 million, or 17.8 percent, above the prior year.
• Gross production tax collections of $22.7 million were $3.7 million, or 13.9 percent, below the estimate and $9.8 million, or 75.7 percent, above the prior year.
• Natural gas collections of $19.5 million were $4.6 million, or 19.2 percent, below the estimate and $8.1 million, or 72 percent, above the prior year.
• Oil collections of $3.2 million were $987,000, or 44.5 percent, above the estimate and $1.6 million, or 102.5 percent, above the prior year.
• Motor vehicle tax collections of $16.7 million were $364,243, or 2.1 percent, below the estimate and $985,000, or 6.3 percent, above the prior year.
• Other revenue collections of $58.7 million were $12.8 million, or 18.0 percent, below the estimate and $6.4 million, or 12.1 percent, above the prior year.

Revenue tables can be viewed on the OMES website.

Governor Mary Fallin Statement on Change of Leadership at Office of Management and Enterprise Services

OKLAHOMA CITY – Governor Mary Fallin tonight issued this statement on leadership changes being made at the Office of Management and Enterprise Services:

“With Secretary Preston Doerflinger  named interim director for the Oklahoma State Department of Health, I am pleased to announce Denise Northrup will be filling the position vacated by Secretary Doerflinger as interim director of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES).

“Denise has served as the chief operational officer for OMES since November 2016, and prior to joining OMES served as my chief of staff for the office of the governor. I know OMES will be in experienced, capable hands under Denise’s leadership.”

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Secretary Preston Doerflinger Responds to Legislature

Oklahoma City, Nov. 1, 2017 — Secretary of Finance, Administration and Information Technology Preston Doerflinger issued this statement responding to Legislature’s plans to fund state agencies:

“Perpetuating the theory that providing a small amount of funding to help agencies with the promise we can come back during regular session blatantly disregards the balanced budget requirement set in our constitution.

“I am firmly of the opinion that the constitution requires Oklahoma to maintain a balanced budget, thereby not allowing the Legislature to “float” agencies until the Legislature returns. If appropriated funding is insufficient to maintain service levels provided in agencies’ original FY 2018 budgets, then reducing service levels is the only option left for those agencies.

Turning a blind eye to the single provision that separates us from the lawlessness of the federal budget only dooms us to fall ever deeper into a fiscal crisis.

“The Legislature has the opportunity to fill the budget hole and end the uncertainty for these agencies, or they can choose to leave their work unfinished, causing devastating cuts to core services. But let there be no doubt, there is no pause button for agencies to hit until the Legislature returns in 2018. Agencies will have to start balancing their budgets again with whatever the Legislature appropriates to them in Special Session. To not move forward with a balanced budget would be a flagrant disregard for the Oklahoma Constitution and an insult to the people of this state.

“Using their own inability to provide stable revenue to these agencies is not an appropriate defense for violating the constitution. The public should be warned that if the Legislature were to act under these circumstances, this surely would not be the last time they will choose to disregard our state constitution.

“The executive branch stands ready to abide by the state constitution and implement a balanced budget regardless of the Legislature’s actions in special session.

Secretary Doerflinger Responds to Representative Wallace’s Statement on Reduction of Agency Allocations

Secretary of Finance, Administration and Information Technology Preston Doerflinger issued the following statement in response to a press release issued today by House Appropriations and Budget Chairman Kevin Wallace:

“Representative Wallace’s statement shows a lack of understanding of the basic statutory and constitutional obligations of my office and agency. It is my obligation to ensure the state is in compliance with Article 10 Section 23 of the Oklahoma State Constitution which, in part, requires state agencies to submit balanced budgets to OMES. When the Supreme Court overturned SB 845, both the Healthcare Enhancement Fund and the revenue source intended for the fund became null and void and, therefore, the appropriations also became null and void. The letter to the three agencies was to confirm that the allocations from the Healthcare Enhancement Fund would not be distributed in October and it required the agencies to submit a revised FY 18 budget reflecting that fact.

“The revised budgets submitted by the agencies will be representative of the timing of the program cuts as they were conveyed to Rep. Wallace, and will ensure that the agencies’ FY 18 budgets are in balance for the total of the fiscal year. Rep. Wallace’s assertion, ‘These cuts are unnecessary at this point,’ glaringly displays that he has a flawed understanding of the budgeting process and requirements of the committee for which he is chairperson.

“While the agencies may be able to provide services for a few months to come, every day that we do not act to find a solution to this budget hole is a day we are losing money that could go toward providing services for the vulnerable populations those agencies serve.”

Attempts to Reach Budget Agreement for Possible Special Session Continues

OKLAHOMA CITY – Governor Mary Fallin’s chief budget negotiator, Secretary of Finance, Administration and Information Technology Preston Doerflinger, today issued the following statement concerning attempts to reach a budget agreement for lawmakers to consider in a possible special session:

“Budget discussions are continuing. The governor’s office is doing due diligence in preparing for a special session as Oklahomans expect by meeting with Republican and Democratic legislative leaders in attempting to reach an agreement on how to adjust the current fiscal year budget as a result of the recent state Supreme Court ruling. As part of that discussion, the fiscal staffs of both legislative chambers and the governor’s office are looking at a variety of revenue sources to make up the budget shortfall and to provide for teacher pay increases. Possible efficiency options to streamline state government operations are also being reviewed. No agreement has been reached between the governor and any legislative party. To suggest we are even close to a deal is incredibly premature and irresponsible.

“It’s important to keep in mind that not only do we have the immediate problem of the loss of $215 million from the court’s ruling, but we should also be working towards filling the anticipated fiscal year 2019 budget hole.

EDITOR’S NOTE:  The Oklahoma Supreme Court earlier this month struck down a smoking cessation fee approved this past legislative session. This results in a $215 million shortfall for the Department of Human Services, the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, the three agencies that received the bulk of the money that was to be generated by the cessation fee.

Oklahoma budget officials have borrowed more than $240 million from the Rainy Day Fund to pay for month-to-month expenses of state government, leaving the emergency fund temporarily empty.

The money has to be paid back with tax revenue before July 1.

The Rainy Day Fund, which is also called the Constitutional Reserve Fund, is designed to give lawmakers a stash of money to use during emergencies, but it’s usually tapped through the House and Senate appropriations process.

State law, however, lets Finance Secretary Preston Doerflinger move money between any state fund so Oklahoma doesn’t fall behind on its bills.

Read the complete story on NewsOK.com

State Finance Secretary Preston Doerflinger this week “applauded” and then cast doubt on OCPA’s most recent budget recommendations. Secretary Doerflinger wrote, “OCPA calculates its savings as $413 million, but the majority of those savings go in the category of cost avoidance, not revenue creation.” In other words, Sec. Doerflinger conveys a clear preference for increasing taxation as opposed to reducing unnecessary overhead.

Jonathan Small, President of OCPA and a CPA, responded with a call for a more honest budget debate.

“Those who want higher taxes need to start being honest. While it’s amusing to watch politicians talk about ‘revenue enhancements’ and ‘investment,’ if they want higher taxes they need to admit it. Anything less is an insult to Oklahomans.

“Balancing a budget means matching spending and revenue levels. In a shortfall, this can mean raising taxes or cutting spending or some combination of both. Any attempt to dismiss spending cuts (“cost avoidance”) and insist that the only legitimate topic of debate is raising taxes (“revenue creation”) is nothing more than an attempt to avoid debate altogether.

“Sec. Doerflinger’s statement merely points out that most cost-saving reforms do not increase revenue. He compares ‘OCPA Claimed Savings’ to ‘FY 18 Revenue’ for OCPA’s most recent 13 recommendations and finds that most items do not produce more revenue. Of course, that was OCPA’s point: serious people involved in the budget process will start out looking for ways to reduce costs rather than jumping immediately to impose higher tax burdens on working Oklahoma families.

“In fact, Doerflinger’s statement shows that he has only minor quibbles with OCPA’s numbers—but then, he has access to more up-to-date data than the public does. His real objection seems to be that OCPA does not recommend higher taxes in order to increase revenue for government. Here, Sec. Doerflinger is absolutely right.

“OCPA always takes the position that cost-saving reforms are preferable to tax hikes. The OCPA list is about finding ways to cut spending, what some politicians used to call ‘right-sizing government.’ Sec. Doerflinger’s objection that OCPA recommends cost-saving reforms rather than tax hikes is a compliment we gladly accept.”

Hundreds of state employees got pay increases of $5,000 or more in 2016 even as Oklahoma faced historic budget problems.

Information provided by the state Office of Management and Enterprise Services showed 554 increases in this category totaling just over $5 million.

The hikes came as appropriations to most state agencies were cut amid a $1.3 billion budget hole created by an oil industry downturn, tax cuts and generous tax credits to industry.

Jonathan Small, president of the conservative Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, said the salary increases show government has been able to function with current revenue.

Read the complete story on NewsOK.com

Final FY 2016 revenues 9.4% below estimate
Midyear cut level reduction leaves $140.8M available for allocation

OKLAHOMA CITY – June General Revenue Fund (GRF) collections missed the estimate by 12.6 percent, causing total Fiscal Year 2016 collections to end the year $541.3 million, or 9.4 percent, short of the estimate.

The GRF’s final FY 2016 account reconciliation showed mandatory midyear funding cuts required by the state’s revenue failure declaration can now be reduced, making $140.8 million available for immediate allocation.

Gov. Mary Fallin is exploring a special legislative session to use the $140.8 million as part of a teacher pay raise package.

As state government’s main operating fund, the GRF is the key indicator of state government’s fiscal status and the predominant funding source for the annual appropriated state budget. GRF collections are revenues that remain for the appropriated state budget after rebates, refunds and mandatory apportionments. Gross collections, reported by the State Treasurer, are all revenues collected by the state before rebates, refunds and mandatory apportionments.

June GRF collections of $488.3 million were $70.1 million, or 12.6 percent, below the official estimate upon which the Fiscal Year 2016 appropriated state budget was based and $47.6 million, or 8.9 percent, below prior year collections.

Total GRF collections for FY 2016 were $5.2 billion, which is $541.3 million, or 9.4 percent, below the official estimate and $521.9 million, or 9.1 percent, below prior year collections.

Final reconciliation of FY 2016 revenues shows GRF allocation reductions required by FY 2016’s midyear revenue failure were deeper than necessary. The final reconciliation shows $140.8 million initially projected as needing to be cut from agency allocations midyear did not need to be cut.

Without a special session, the $140.8 million would be distributed equally among all agencies receiving general revenue allocations, said OMES Director and Secretary of Finance, Administration and Information Technology Preston L. Doerflinger. Money will not be sent to agencies until a determination has been made on whether a special session will occur.

“Many agencies have needs, but the fact is this money would do more good for Oklahoma in the form of a teacher pay raise than it would equally distributed to agencies,” Doerflinger said. “A lot of agencies – mine, for one – simply don’t have as compelling a case for the money as education, particularly our teachers.”

Midyear GRF reductions caused by the FY 2016 revenue failure were initially seven percent, or $412 million, but final revenue reconciliation shows the necessary reduction level was 4.4 percent, or $272 million, which results in $140.8 million that was cut now becoming available for allocation.

The $140.8 million is not eligible to be deposited in the Rainy Day Fund because the funds are not true surplus funds.

“Calling these funds a surplus is like taking $7 out of someone’s pocket, giving them $2.50 back and congratulating them on a $2.50 surplus,” Doerflinger said. “Let’s be clear: These are funds that are available because an emergency cut level can now be reduced, not because revenues were above expectations. The state is still in a challenging revenue environment due to energy sector contraction and other factors. If this were a true surplus, there would be a Rainy Day Fund deposit, which isn’t happening.”

The Board of Equalization in February had projected FY 2016 GRF collections to come in $549.3 million, or 9.6 percent, below the official estimate. The board’s February projection revealed the state’s initial revenue failure reduction of three percent, made in December, was insufficient, and that a GRF allocation reduction of at least another 1.6 percent would be necessary.

Due to significant revenue declines the state was experiencing at the time, OMES reduced general revenue allocations by an additional four percent to maintain the state’s constitutional requirement to operate under a balanced budget and reduce the possibility of having to cut agency allocations again midyear.

“We stand by the cut level we approved because instead of cutting agencies yet again, which would have happened if the cut level was too small, the state gets the chance to address a major priority in teacher pay,” Doerflinger said.

Doerflinger added: “This was by no means a good year on the revenue front, but it wound up slightly better than it looked midyear when revenues were in a freefall along with oil prices. There is now money available to spend from our biggest fund, the General Revenue Fund, and the state’s second-biggest fund, the 1017 Fund, made full allocations to public schools, as our office always projected it would.”

Doerflinger is director of OMES, which issues the monthly GRF reports.

Major tax categories in June contributed the following amounts to the GRF:

• Total income tax collections of $229.7 million were $28.5 million, or 11 percent, below the estimate and $22.5 million, or 8.9 percent, below the prior year.
• Individual income tax collections of $185 million were $18.9 million, or 9.3 percent, below the estimate and $5.2 million, or 2.9 percent, above the prior year.
• Corporate income tax collections of $44.7 million were $9.6 million, or 17.6 percent, below the estimate and $27.7 million, or 38.2 percent, below the prior year.
  • Sales tax collections of $155.9 million were $23.3 million, or 13 percent, below the estimate and $7.3 million, or 4.5 percent, below the prior year.
  • Gross production tax collections of $6.6 million were $9.3 million, or 58.6 percent, below the estimate and $114,400, or 1.8 percent, above the prior year.
• Natural gas collections of $5.7 million were $1.7 million, or 42.7 percent, above the estimate. There was no GRF contribution from June 2015 collections.
• Oil collections of $895,000 were $11 million, or 92.5 percent, below the estimate and $5.6 million, or 86.2 percent, below the prior year.
  • Motor vehicle tax collections of $36 million were $14.3 million, or 66 percent, above the estimate and $17.7 million, or 96.6 percent, above the prior year.
  • Other revenue collections of $60 million were $23.3 million, or 28 percent, below the estimate and $35.5 million, or 37.2 percent, below the prior year.

Revenue tables can be viewed on the OMES website.

The first budget bills may get a vote in the House in about a week as lawmakers finally begin to deal with what has been the elephant in the room all legislative session — a record $1.3 billion revenue hole.

House Appropriations and Budget Committee Chairman Earl Sears said the governor’s office along with Republican leadership in both chambers agree on some legislative approaches that will take the form of bills likely to be heard the second week in May.

The session is required to end by May 27, but leaders have discussed concluding a week early.

There is an effort to minimize cuts to priorities like education and health care in the new spending plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

Read the complete story on theoklahoman.com

Gov. Fallin’s Executive Budget Proposal 2.0

February GRF receipts miss estimate by 18%
Similar revenue declines expected for remainder of fiscal year

OKLAHOMA CITY – February General Revenue Fund (GRF) collections missed the estimate by 18 percent, the farthest margin below the estimate so far this fiscal year.

As state government’s main operating fund, the GRF is the key indicator of state government’s fiscal status and the predominant funding source for the annual appropriated state budget. GRF collections are revenues that remain for the appropriated state budget after rebates, refunds and mandatory apportionments. Gross collections, reported by the State Treasurer, are all revenues collected by the state before rebates, refunds and mandatory apportionments.

February GRF collections of $225.6 million were $49.4 million, or 18 percent, below the official estimate upon which the Fiscal Year 2016 appropriated state budget was based, and $75.9 million, or 25.2 percent, below prior year collections.

Total GRF collections for the first eight months of FY 2016 were $3.3 billion, which is $327 million, or 8.9 percent, below the official estimate and $356.5 million, or 9.7 percent, below prior year collections.

“March’s deepened midyear revenue failure reduction was necessary because the rest of the year is projected to look a lot like February,” Doerflinger said. “It bears repeating that the most responsible way out of this is by adding stable, recurring revenues into the next budget as the governor proposed and is actively discussing with Legislature.”

Doerflinger is director of OMES, which issues the monthly GRF reports.

Major tax categories in February contributed the following amounts to the GRF:

• Total income tax collections of $29.5 million were $18.5 million, or 166.6 percent, above the estimate and $28.6 million, or 49.2 percent, below the prior year. Collections were far above the estimate and far below the prior year due to collection anomalies in February 2015 that skewed comparisons to February 2016, according to the Tax Commission.
  • Individual income tax collections of $26.6 million were $16 million, or 151.9 percent, above the estimate and $30.7 million, or 53.6 percent, below the prior year.
  • Corporate income tax collections of $2.9 million were $2.4 million, or 463.2 percent, above the estimate and $2.1 million, or 255.5 percent, above the prior year.
• Sales tax collections of $140.7 million were $26.3 million, or 15.7 percent, below the estimate and $18.3 million, or 11.5 percent, below the prior year.
• Gross production tax collections of $5 million were $25.1 million, or 83.4 percent, below the estimate and $25.3 million, or 83.5 percent, below the prior year.
  • Natural gas collections of $4.5 million were $10.4 million, or 69.6 percent, below the estimate and $3.7 million, or 44.8 percent, below the prior year.
  • Oil collections of $470,871 were $14.7 million, or 96.9 percent, below the estimate and $21.7 million, or 97.9 percent, below the prior year.
• Motor vehicle tax collections of $16.6 million were $1.3 million, or 7.3 percent, below the estimate and $1.8 million, or 11.9 percent, above the prior year.
• Other revenue collections of $33.8 million were $15.2 million, or 31 percent, below the estimate and $5.4 million, or 13.8 percent, below the prior year.

Monthly revenue tables are available on the OMES website.

FY 17 budget hole projected to grow to $1.3B
Board of Equalization meets Tuesday to update revenue certification

OKLAHOMA CITY — The appropriated budget hole for Fiscal Year 2017 is expected to grow to $1.3 billion next week.

Preliminary, unverified estimates show the Board of Equalization on Tuesday will consider certifying $5,851,664,555 in revenues for FY 2017 appropriations, which is $1.1 billion, or 15.9 percent, less than was appropriated for FY 2016. The board in December projected a budget hole of $900.8 million, or 12.9 percent.

The true budget hole the Legislature will face is larger than what the board will consider Tuesday. By law, Rainy Day Fund appropriations and certain revolving fund authorizations are not factored into the board’s estimates. With those factors considered, there will be $1.3 billion, or 19.1 percent, less to appropriate for FY 2017.

Between the board’s initial FY 2017 estimate Dec. 21 and Wednesday, oil prices fell 21 percent from $34.74 per barrel to $27.45 per barrel, Oklahoma lost at least 500 more energy sector jobs and major energy firms announced plans for further employment reductions in the coming months. Since June 2014, Oklahoma has lost at least 12,500 energy sector jobs as oil prices have fallen 75 percent.

“It’s been more tough sledding since December, so the hole grew as expected. The untenable cuts to core services a hole like this could cause are avoidable when bold actions like the governor proposed are taken. There are responsible ways out of this when we show courage and resolve to do the hard work,” said Secretary of Finance, Administration and Information Technology Preston L. Doerflinger.

The Board of Equalization meets at 10 a.m. Feb. 16 in the Governor’s Large Conference Room at the State Capitol.

Thousands of Oklahoma state employees were given raises last year, despite dire warnings of an approaching budget shortfall and a salary freeze ordered by the governor.

State agencies also promoted more than 1,000 employees and hired several thousand to fill vacancies, even though those types of employment actions were included in the freeze — with notable exceptions.

As it turns out, Gov. Mary Fallin’s “personnel freeze” wasn’t much of a freeze at all.
The governor gave each of her cabinet secretaries authority to grant exceptions to the freeze when justification could be shown.

Some granted hundreds of waivers — often citing increased duties and the need to be competitive with the private sector as reasons.

Read the complete story on NewsOK.com

OKLAHOMA CITY – The state’s finance secretary encouraged lawmakers to “keep it simple, stupid” when considering policy in 2016.

The budget is the most important thing to get done, Finance Secretary Preston Doerflinger said. Beyond that, the Legislature should avoid costly measures.

“I think that would be wise,” he said. “My mom gave me a book in the eighth grade that said, ‘keep it simple, stupid.’ As much as possible, keep it simple and focus on the main item at hand.”

Doerflinger also said he’d like to see the Legislature finish its work by April. Lawmakers may meet in regular session until May 31.

Read the complete story on journalrecord.com