Oklahoma officials order $235 million cut to state agencies

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – State finance officials say Oklahoma schools, prisons and other state agencies will have their budgets slashed by 7 percent for the rest of the year, cuts that amount to an additional $235 million.

Public schools alone will have nearly $110 million cut from their budgets for the fiscal year that ends June 30.

Collections from every major source of revenue in Oklahoma have fallen short of projections amid a slump in oil and natural gas prices, prompting the mid-year reductions.

Gov. Mary Fallin’s Secretary of Finance Preston Doerflinger, who ordered the cuts, warned lawmakers about the seriousness of the state’s fiscal situations. Lawmakers are facing a $1.3 billion hole in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which Doerflinger says could result in cuts "right through the bone."