State Sen. Rob Standridge said he is hopeful the governor will soon sign a measure aimed at helping the state better weather economic downturns in the future.  Standridge is co-author of Senate Bill 1030, which won final passage in the Senate on a 45-0 vote and was sent to Gov. Mary Fallin’s desk for consideration.

Standridge, R-Norman, said SB 1030, also known as the “Oklahoma Multi-year Revenue and Expenditure Projection Act,” is aimed at helping the state focus not only on projected revenues and agency funding needs for the coming fiscal year, but for the next two years after that as well.  The bill also mandates the development of budget performance measurements to determine if each spending agency is performing its duties in the most cost-effective manner possible.

“If there is an upside to our current economic crisis, it’s that it has really clarified something that many of us have been advocating for a long time, and that’s the critical need to reform our approaches to budgeting and finance,” Standridge said.  “Looking ahead and planning with a more long-term view is something that was recommended by the Pew Research Center and an approach other states have already adopted.  It’s particularly important for states like Oklahoma that rely heavily on volatile revenue sources like oil and gas.”

Senate Finance Chairman Mike Mazzei commended Standridge for his integral role in developing the reform measure.

“We really appreciate Senator Standridge for his leadership and involvement on these important financial reform initiatives,” said Mazzei, R-Tulsa.  “He’s played a very key and important role in developing this legislation.”

“Any way you look at it, our state has to be smarter with the resources we have.  We’re going to get more data in the hands of those charged with overseeing and writing agency budgets and that’s going to help us look at the bigger economic picture for Oklahoma,” Standridge said.  “I think it’s the difference between hand-to-mouth, piecemeal approaches, as opposed to actually having a long-term plan.  That’s definitely going to make our state much stronger as we face future ebbs and flows in the economy.”

-END-