Oklahoma’s legislature is not alone in struggling with a budget wounded badly by the slump in oil and natural gas prices worldwide. While Oklahoma’s budget hole totals $1.3 billion, some believe the Texas legislature will be faced with a $3 billion hole when it returns next year.
State Comptroller Glenn Hegar also predicts there will be more energy companies lining up in bankruptcy courts putting more employees on a different kind of line….unemployment.
“We hope the curve has been made and we’re starting to climb back out of it, but you’re still, at these low prices, even at the high $30s—you’re still going to see bankruptcies in the oil and gas industry from the balance sheets they have,” said Hegar in a recent interview on Dallas TV station WFAA’s Inside Texas Politics.
He said Texas could also be forced to cut back some state services and lay off workers, something Oklahoma’s already done and continues to do. And Hegar took note of what’s happened in Oklahoma and said the situation in Texas is more encouraging.
“Our economy is much more diverse than they are, so we have absorbed the impact of lower oil prices. We’re still going to see more job losses, unfortunately, at these lower prices, and you’ll see some bankruptcies of companies. So there’s still pain to be felt in Texas. But our economy is much more diverse that we’re able to absorb that impact much more than those states.”
Watch WFAA’s Interview.
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