It only took 4½ years, but the state of Oklahoma finally has recovered from the revenue bust that began in 2009.
State Treasurer Ken Miller reported Monday that state revenue collections for the 12 months ending in July were $11.297 billion, $13 million higher than the previous record of $11.284 billion set in December 2008.
Twelve-month revenue collections began to plummet in early 2009 and continued falling until they hit a recessionary low of $9.364 billion in February 2010. They have been creeping upward ever since.
The contraction led to cuts in virtually every category of state spending and caused leaders to use rainy day funds and federal stimulus dollars to help close the gap. State workers, for example, have not had an across-the-board raise since 2006.
“By at least this one measure, Oklahoma has regained and moved past the ground it lost during the Great Recession,” Miller said in a prepared statement. “The revenue recovery, from peak to peak, took four years and seven months.”
