Governor Kevin Stitt says the upcoming revenue failure for the current state budget will be around $416 million. He’s called for a virtual Equalization Board meeting on Monday to help access savings to help the Legislature patch the budget and avoid cuts as much as possible.
“This revenue failure is not unexpected given the significant impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the dramatic downturn in the oil and gas markets,” said Stitt. “Times like these further reinforce how critically important it was for our House and Senate leadership to work with me to save an additional $200 million during last year’s budget surplus.”
The Legislature will meet in a special session on Monday morning to address the Governor’s recent health emergency declaration. There’s also talk of ways to fix this budget while preparing for the next fiscal year.
The Rainy Day Fund currently has $806 million. The Legislature has access to $302 million for this year’s state budget. The emergency declared in March will allow lawmakers access to another $201 million of the fund.
“When our health department officials, public safety workers, emergency responders and so many others are working tirelessly to help the people of Oklahoma, I want everyone to know that we will prioritize protecting our core services for dealing with the COVID-19 crisis.” Said Stitt.
“As the last few weeks have demonstrated, it will take time to fully understand the impact COVID-19 will have on our state revenue. We must be very cautious and remain fiscally prudent to restrain spending as we work with the legislature on next year’s budget.”
