© 2024 KGOU
News and Music for Oklahoma
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Fallin Will Propose Tapping Revolving Funds To Fill $300 Million Budget Gap

facebook.com
Gov. Mary Fallin will recommend in her State of the State speech and executive budget Monday transferring up to $300 million of unencumbered money out of state agency revolving funds to shore up the fiscal year 2016 budget, according to an eCapitol report.

“The governor, as she has already said, will propose using some, but not all, of unencumbered revolving fund money to balance the budget. She will also propose looking at permanent policy changes that address the practice of keeping large sums of money, sometimes excess money, in those funds,” Alex Weintz, Fallin’s spokesman said Friday.

To avoid deeper cuts in the 2014 state budget, last May the legislature approved taking $297.1 million dollars from agency revolving funds. Several of those transfers were ruled unconstitutional by the Oklahoma Attorney General, Scott Pruitt, but despite his ruling, nothing ever happened. 

Since then, some legislative members have been proposing legislative studies and other ideas to use these revolving funds as sources of revenue for general operations.

Last October, House Fiscal Director Mark Tygret made a presentation to the House Interim Study H14-007, concerning revolving funds. He noted that many of the revolving funds are restricted for very specific purposes.  He explained that the majority of the funds are created by legislation and are considered continuing funds. That means the money in the accounts is not limited to specific fiscal year expenditures but instead may be spent over a number of years. The revenue sources for revolving funds vary, said Tygret, and include appropriated funds, fines and fees, taxes, donations, grants and federal funds. 

Speaking to reporters Wednesday at the Associated Press legislative forum, Fallin said an analysis by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services shows the state has $1.7 billion “sitting in revolving funds throughout the various state agencies.” 

“Not all that money is available to be spent,” Fallin told reporters. “Some of it has been encumbered, has been dedicated to certain spending priorities of those agencies. So, we can’t touch that money. But the fact is there is about $900 million that is not encumbered in those revolving funds and I ask the Legislature to take a close look at the amount of revenue we have in those revolving funds.” 
An Oklahoma-based company with corporate headquarters located in Oklahoma City, eCapitol launched as an online capitol news and information business in the early 1990's. eCapitol provides on-the-ground, politically-neutral reporting of capitol activity.
More News
Support nonprofit, public service journalism you trust. Give now.