Preston Doerflinger

In December 2017, the Oklahoma State Department of Health announced it would be laying off 161 staff members on March 3. Eleven staffers have since quit or retired, leaving 150 people who lost their jobs at the end of the day on Friday, according to an OSDH spokesman.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health is looking for a new interim commissioner after Preston Doerflinger abruptly resigned Tuesday.

The Board of Health voted unanimously to accept Doerflinger’s resignation, which came one day after allegations of a 2012 domestic dispute in Tulsa were reported by The Frontier.

On June 26, voters will decide if Oklahoma will become the 30th state to legalize marijuana for medical use. But regulating the new industry could prove difficult.

If State Question 788 passes, licenses will be required for each stage of marijuana cultivation, including dispensaries, commercial growers, processors, and individual medical marijuana cards.

The new head of the Oklahoma State Department of Health says the agency has been spending more than its annual revenue since 2011.

Interim Commissioner Preston Doerflinger said Monday that accounting tricks were used to move money between different accounts.

The top official and a senior deputy at the Oklahoma State Department of Health have resigned amid findings that the agency overspent and mismanaged finances for years.

State agencies may see shallower cuts than they expected due to a current $166 million surplus.

That number could decline though, and after Monday’s state Board of Equalization meeting Secretary of Finance Preston Doerflinger wouldn’t guess how much money might be left over. Revenue collections aren’t complete for the month of June, the Sean Murphy with the Associated Press reports:

A grassroots organization that pushed for an investigation into the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office is now calling on Gov. Mary Fallin to replace Secretary of Finance Preston Doerflinger.

State agencies will be dealing with even deeper cuts this fiscal year, on top of 3 percent reductions caused by Oklahoma’s revenue failure late in 2015.

On Monday, Finance Secretary Preston Doerflinger sent an email to agencies saying the cuts would double starting in March, eCapitol’s Shawn Ashley reports:

Oklahoma budget officials sounded a dire financial alarm this week – low oil prices have driven state government revenues to failure.

Lawmakers and state finance officials say a projected $900 million hole in next year's state-appropriated budget could grow closer to $1.1 billion when adjusted for one-time expenditures used to plug a hole in the current state budget.

Those numbers will be officially presented to the state Board of Equalization on Monday. Three of the state’s top finance leaders met with reporters at the state Capitol on Thursday to detail the shortfall.

Oklahoma finance officials say revenue collections to the state government's main operating fund are continuing to slide, increasing the possibility of a revenue failure and mandatory cuts in allocations to state agencies before the end of the fiscal year.

The Office of Management and Enterprise Services reported Tuesday that collections to the state's General Revenue Fund in September were about 1 percent below the estimate upon which the current year's budget is based.

Facing a budget hole of more than $611 million, state lawmakers said they're looking everywhere for revenue to fill that hole.

On Friday, Governor Fallin's finance secretary, Preston Doerflinger, said he may have found a source of savings: agency travel costs, agencies' memberships to other organizations and agency promotional and events expenses, or what his office calls "swag."

The State Board of Equalization met Thursday to certify state revenues for Gov. Mary Fallin's budgeting ahead of the next legislative session and fiscal year. Oklahoma has enough revenue to trigger an income tax cut.

The amount of money available to fund state government is trending flat, but officials say lackluster revenues seem manageable.

Secretary of Finance, Administration and Information Technology Preston Doerflinger warned Thursday that next fiscal year’s state appropriated budget will be flat.

Doerflinger’s comments came in his monthly General Revenue Fund report. The report showed General Revenue Fund (GRF) collections in October totaled $471.6 million. That was $3.4 million, or 0.7 percent, above the official estimate upon which the FY2015 appropriated state budget is based and $23.3 million, or 5.2 percent, above prior year collections.

Oklahoma finance officials say collections to the state's main operating fund are increasing from last year in most major revenue categories and have exceeded the official estimate by more than 6 percent.

The Office of Management and Enterprise Services reported Tuesday that collections to the state's General Revenue Fund for the first quarter of the fiscal year totaled more than $1.3 billion, which is 6.1 percent above the official estimate. That amount also exceeded prior year collections by 9.4 percent.

Oklahoma’s August tax collections increased by 7.5 percent, the largest percentage increase in monthly receipts since July 2013, State Treasurer Ken Miller said in a media statement. Miller said August receipts “were just less than $900 million.”

“Oklahoma’s economy continues to climb up the expansion side of the business cycle,” Miller said. “Our people are earning and spending more, as reflected by steady growth in income tax and sales tax receipts.”

Gov. Mary Fallin's chief budget negotiator says a tentative deal has been reached with the House and Senate on a roughly $7 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

State Secretary of Finance Preston Doerflinger said Friday details of the plan will be released later in the day after the budget is presented in closed-door meetings with rank-and-file members of the House and Senate.

House Speaker Jeff Hickman says he hopes a bond issue to repair the state's crumbling Capitol is part of the final agreement.