The Oklahoma Senate approved the largest budget in state history Wednesday, giving increases to education and healthcare.
There are no cuts to state agencies in the $7.6 billion budget and most of the new revenue comes from tax hikes approved in the special session. Those include the nearly $500 million to fund education, which includes the $6,000 raises for teachers.
Overall, Oklahoma's budget would increase by about 11 percent if this bill becomes law. That's about $745 million dollars in increased spending.
Emily Hill, Director of Behavioral Health at Morton Comprehensive Health Services, says, “I think it’s very exciting. I want to make sure that it’s understood I’m not just speaking for Morton patients at all but for the state of Oklahoma.”
Morton Comprehensive Health Services is the largest community healthcare system in northeast Oklahoma. The company is no stranger to funding cuts. Hill says the proposed increases would be a blessing, giving Medicaid providers an increase in reimbursement rates.
Hill said, “It gives me a really nice leverage to be able to know that I can hire more providers to provide more service, and hire providers that are more qualified with more experience where I can have better people in the front line going out and making a difference everywhere.”
But not all behavioral health professionals are jumping with joy. Joy Sloan of Green Country Behavioral Services in Muskogee said, “Although I’m grateful that we will essentially have a flat budget next year, the years of cuts still make it difficult to accept.” She went on, “Being grateful and being satisfied is two different things.”
The new budget would allocate $2.9 billion for the Department of Education, $1.1 billion for the Oklahoma Healthcare Authority, $729 million for the Department of Human Services, $517 million for the Department of Corrections and $165 million for the Department of Transportation.
What more funding could do for Hill is change the game of mental health. She said, “It’s still a stigma. I think the more providers we have, the more impact we make, the more people that become comfortable getting help, and the more society or the population is helped.”
The budget now heads to the House for final consideration. Lawmakers hope to send the bill to Gov. Fallin’s desk by the end of the week and adjourn the legislative session next Friday.
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