The State of Oklahoma reported a $141 million budget surplus this month, reports KOCO.The extra funds will be distributed to state agencies based on need, as determined by the 2016 fiscal year budget.
Several agencies facing critical shortfalls will be addressed first. These include the Department of Education, the Department of Human Services, the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Corrections, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority and the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
In a statement, Governor Mary Fallin said she plans to continue developing a teacher pay raise plan. The education reform will be introduced at the beginning of the next legislative session. The governor’s statement ended talk of a possible teacher pay raise plan involving the surplus. Instead, Fallin said she wants the money returned equally to agencies from which it was initially cut.
