2010 Oklahoma state budget


The Oklahoma State Budget for Fiscal Year 2010, is a spending request by Governor Brad Henry to fund government operations for July 1, 2009–June 30, 2010. Governor Henry and legislative leader approved the budget in May 2009.
Figures shown in the spending request do not reflect the actual appropriations for Fiscal Year 2011, which must be authorized by the Legislature.

Overview

The state budget for fiscal year 2010 began with a decrease in tax revenues of almost $310 million, or 4.4%, from the previous fiscal year. A primary reason for this decrease was enactment of in 2006. HB1172 enacted the largest tax cut in state history by lowering the state income tax rate from 6.25% in 2006 to 5.25% in 2011. HB1172 also increased the standard deduction to match the federal standard deduction in 2010. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was passed February 2009 and the State applied for money available under the act. This included $404 million for the state Medicaid program and $236 million for education, among others. These funds allowed the Oklahoma Legislature to balance the state budget.
Early on in the fiscal year, the effects of the late-2000s recession reached Oklahoma and caused tax revenues to decrease significantly. The Governor's Office reported that tax revenues decreased $1.2 billion between July 2009 and September 2009. This decrease caused Governor Brad Henry to order all state agencies to decrease their budgets by 5%. By November 2009, Governor Henry ordered the cuts increased to 7% and then to 7.5% by January 2010. By the end of the fiscal year, tax revenues had decreased from an estimated $6.8 billion in 2009 to $5.3 billion in 2010, a net decrease of 22%.

Key Funding Issues

Estimated tax revenue for fiscal year 2011 is $6.8 billion, an estimated decrease of 4.4% from FY2009 amounts of $7 billion:
All revenue of the $7.1 billion budget revenue breaks down as follows:
The projected gross state product for 2009 was listed at $153.8 billion. The fiscal year 2011 spending represents 4.6% of GSP.
The Governor's budget for 2010 totaled $7.1 billion in spending, unchanged from Fiscal Year 2009 levels. Percentages in parentheses indicate percentage change compared to 2009. The budget request is broken down by the following expenditures:
The Oklahoma Legislature approved total appropriations for fiscal year 2010 of $7.2 billion. Percentages in parentheses indicate percentage change compared to the Governor's budget. The final appropriations are broken down by the following expenditures:
Following the effects of the Late 2000s Recession on Oklahoma, Governor Brad Henry ordered an across the board 7.25% spending cut for all State agencies.