The State Board of Equalization declared a $416,883,273 revenue failure for Fiscal 2020, paving the way for legislators to take money from the Rainy Day Fund and other savings accounts.

Oklahoma Tax Commission Executive Director Jay Doyle gave updated look at how COVID-19 and the downturn in oil and gas are affecting revenue forecasts for Fiscal 2021, which begins July 1.

While the Board of Equalization’s February report provided $8.244 billion of spending authority , the latest projection shows just $6.878 billion available, a difference of $1.366 billion. The Board of Equalization is not statutorily allowed to revise its February figure for the FY21 budget, but Governor Kevin Stitt gave an update on Oklahoma’s financial future following the meeting.

“I want Oklahomans to know that the Legislature will need to be fiscally conservative when it writes the FY21 budget,” said Stitt. “Even if we took our savings account down to zero, we would still have 7.5% less to spend than in FY20, and we’ll likely have another significant drop for FY22.”