In her “State of the State” address on Monday, Gov. Mary Fallin called for shortened prison sentences, higher taxes on cigarettes and a $3,000 a year pay hike for all teachers.
Fallin also proposed for fiscal 2017 a 6-percent cut for most state agencies, with certain exceptions, and generating more revenue by eliminating some of the $8 billion in annual sales tax exemptions. Fallin’s proposals come amid a budget crisis in which the state must offset a nearly $1 billion budget hole caused mainly by a plunge in oil prices. Income tax cuts have contributed to the revenue drop.
Within the text of her written speech, Oklahoma Watch writers offer annotations with context and more details (below). Click on or tap a highlighted passage to see the notes,which were written by Nate Robson, Warren Vieth and Clifton Adcock.
Republish this article
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Most of Oklahoma Watch’s content is available for republication by other news media in print and digital form. Please follow these terms for republication:
* Reporters’ bylines and photographers’ credit lines should be accompanied by “Oklahoma Watch.”
* Include the Oklahoma Watch logo (found here).
* Use the following credit line at the end of the story, with oklahomawatch.org hyperlinked online:
“Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.”