House Speaker—–Perfect Storm in Oklahoma







What’s happened to the oil and gas sector in Oklahoma weighs heavily on the mind of Oklahoma State House Speaker Jeff Hickman as he leads the House in struggling with two budget failures and another month of declining budget revenue.

“A lot of work continues to go into the budget. We all know what’s going on with the economy, the oil and gas bust and frankly, cattle and wheat prices aren’t much better—it’s the perfect storm in Oklahoma,” said Hickman in a recent interview with Ron Hays of the Oklahoma Ag Report. “The connection to that is the line directly correlates to 15,000 Oklahomans out of work in the energy sector.”

Once again, oil and gas revenues declined this week and the figures were released as the Speaker spoke with Hays.

“Those are 15,000 families who are trying to figure out how to pay their child’s college tuition, make the mortgage payment, car payment, keep food on the table,” he added. “It’s tough to make these decisons at the capitol and balance our budget.”

Listen to the interview of Rep. Hickman.

Click here for audio