Oklahoma leaders reach agreement on supplemental funding

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Governor Mary Fallin and Republican legislative leaders have reached an agreement to tap about $78 million from Oklahoma’s Rainy Day Fund to help public schools and the state’s prison system complete the current fiscal year.

Fallin, House Speaker Jeff Hickman and Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman discussed the details during a joint news conference on Wednesday.

Under the plan, $51 million would be appropriated to the Department of Education and $27.5 million would go to the Department of Corrections to supplement funding for the fiscal year that ends June 30.

If the plan is approved by the Legislature, that will leave about $307 million in the Rainy Day Fund to help fill a $1.3 billion budget hole for the upcoming fiscal year.