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| Rainy Day Fund May Be Tapped for Oklahoma Prisons |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 04/10/2002 |
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Oklahoma's emergency reserve fund may have to be tapped to fund a $34 million supplemental funding request that the Department of Corrections says it needs to pay its bills, House Speaker Larry Adair said recently. But a spokesman for Gov. Frank Keating, who controls the pursestrings to the constitutional Rainy Day Fund, said it is premature to predict how the supplemental request will be funded. 'The governor does realize the need there,' press secretary John Cox said. But Cox said Keating may prefer to use general revenue funds and save Rainy Day money for other purposes. 'We'll have to wait and see,' Cox said. Keating recommended $25 million in additional funds for the Department of Corrections in his executive budget. Corrections officials say they need more money to finish out the fiscal year that ends June 30. Corrections spokesman Jerry Massie said the department will run short of money by April 23 without additional funds. 'That's the time that we'll begin accumulating services that we're not budgeted for,' Massie said. The agency's supplemental request includes $30.1 million in critical needs, including $21.9 million to pay contracts for cells in six private prisons as well as various county jails and halfway houses, Massie said. But a budget agreement announced on April 2 by Adair and Senate President Pro Tempore Stratton Taylor did not address supplemental funds for the department. Adair said appropriations officials in the House and Senate have not had an opportunity to review supplemental requests from corrections and other state agencies. But he said the amount of supplemental funds that are set aside will depend on how much money is made available from the Rainy Day fund. Cox said the legislative budget agreement was incomplete because it did not include additional funds for corrections. Corrections, which was budgeted $390 million for the current fiscal year, is seeking a $470 million budget for the new year that begins July 1. About 22,600 people are housed in state or private prisons. |
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