Gov. Fallin: Oklahoma’s Economic Future Tied to National Uncertainties

• Joe Wertz
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  Joe Wertz was a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma from 2011-2019. He reported on energy and environment issues for national NPR audiences and other national outlets. He previously worked as a managing editor, assistant editor and staff reporter at several major Oklahoma newspapers and studied journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma.

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Oklahoma enjoys low unemployment and fared relatively well during the recent economic downturn.

But the continued growth of Oklahoma’s economy is tied to trends beyond the state’s control, Gov. Mary Fallin told a crowd at the Tulsa Convention Center Ballroom.

One factor is tax revenues from oil and gas, which have been slipping. “We’re monitoring oil and gas very closely,” Fallin said in her speech, according to the Tulsa World.

But uncertainty at the national and global level — national elections, Congress, global unrest, the Obama administration — also have a “tremendous impact” on Oklahoma’s economy, Fallin said.

So what can Oklahoma do? According to Fallin: focus on business and state government functions like transportation, education and health care.

The World:

On several occasions, Fallin stressed the importance of a “highly skilled, educated workforce” and took some pains to defend this year’s essentially flat common education budget. She said “baseline” funding increased because $54 million added to last year’s total through a supplemental appropriation was included in this year’s general appropriation bill.

Fallin also said education received an additional $20 million this year from the school land fund, a state trust that manages land and mineral rights reserved for the support of schools.