The state of Oklahoma’s not alone in confronting a budget challenge caused in part by the oil slump. Oklahoma’s budget hole could be close to $900 million dollars but in Texas, it could be nearly $6 billion.
One Republican legislator, Rep. Drew Darby said the state of Texas will need another $5 billion to $6 billion to maintain current spending levels. Texas had escaped some of the budget challenges like the one that Oklahoma faced last year when its budget hole was more than $1 billion.
Now Republican Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar admits, the oil slump is hitting the state, explaining that the downturn has “lagged much longer than we thought”.
Taxes from oil and gas in Texas fell 52 percent last year.