Dear Friend, Last week, lawmakers’ attempts to address the state budget crisis in special session collapsed. Legislators rejected proposals that would have filled the entire budget hole and averted catastrophic cuts to the three health care and social service agencies — the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Oklahoma Health Care Authority, and Department of Human Services — that lost $214 million when the State Supreme Court found a cigarette fee passed earlier this year unconstitutional. With no solutions from the Legislature after nearly five weeks of special session, these three agencies have had to start the process of notifying clients that the services they rely on will be terminated beginning December 1st. Lawmakers could still prevent this doomsday scenario, but their delay has put severe stress on the close to 200,000 Oklahomans who could lose mental illness or addiction treatment and the tens of thousands of frail seniors and people with severe disabilities who could lose supports they need to stay in their homes instead of being moved to a nursing facility. In a new blog post, OK Policy looks at what options are currently being considered to avoid doomsday. We explain that while various recurring revenues remain on the table, the likeliest outcome will involve a combination of "cash and cuts" - using one-time carryover funds and money from the Rainy Day Fund to fill half of the $214 million hole and cutting all or most agencies to cover the rest. We discuss how additional budget cuts of 1 to 3 percent would add major strains for agencies already buckling under years of cutbacks and shortfalls. We also note: While filling the budget hole with one-time revenues would avert the doomsday scenario, it only deepens the problem of Oklahoma’s structural budget deficit. That means we will find ourselves with an even larger budget hole — and fewer options for dealing with it — when lawmakers come back for regular session in just a few months. Click here for the blog post and click here for our newly-updated Special Session Frequently Asked Questions. We encourage you to continue to contact your legislators to insist that they do their job and come together on a plan that generates a fair mix of new recurring revenue, averts deeper budget cuts, invests in key priorities, and puts the budget on a more sustainable path. See our Advocacy Alert for talking points and additional resources. Click here to find your legislators. Thank you! The OK Policy Team | Oklahoma Policy Institute
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