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Oklahoma Oklahoma has a Constitutional Amendment from 1985 that limits appropriations to 95% of estimated revenue, not to exceed the prior year’s appropriations plus 12% adjusted for inflation. ARTICLE X - Revenue and Taxation Section X-23: Balanced budget - Procedures. The state shall never create or authorize the creation of any debt
or obligation, or fund or pay any deficit, against the state, or any
department, institution or agency thereof, regardless of its form or
the source of money from which it is to be paid, except as may be
provided in this section and in Sections 24 and 25 of Article X of the
Constitution of the State of Oklahoma.
To ensure a balanced annual budget, pursuant to the limitations
contained in the foregoing, procedures are herewith established as
follows:
1. Not more than forty-five (45) days or less than thirty-five
(35) days prior to the convening of each regular session of the
Legislature, the State Board of Equalization shall certify the total
amount of revenue which accrued during the last preceding fiscal year
to the General Revenue Fund and to each Special Revenue Fund
appropriated directly by the Legislature, and shall further certify
amounts available for appropriation which shall be based on a
determination, in accordance with the procedure hereinafter provided,
of the revenues to be received by the state under the laws in effect
at the time such determination is made, for the next ensuing fiscal
year, showing separately the revenues to accrue to the credit of each
such fund of the state appropriated directly by the Legislature.
Amounts certified as available for appropriation from each fund,
as hereinbefore provided, shall be ninety-five percent (95%) of an
itemized estimate made by the State Board of Equalization, which shall
include all sources of revenue to each fund for the next ensuing
fiscal year; provided however, appropriated federal funds shall be
certified for the full amount of the estimate. Said estimate shall
consider any increase or decline in revenues that would result from
predictable changes in the economy.
Legislative appropriations for any fiscal year, except for special
appropriations provided for in paragraph 4, shall be limited to a sum
not to exceed the total amount appropriated from all funds in the
preceding fiscal year, plus twelve percent (12%), adjusted for
inflation for the previous calendar year. Said limit shall be
adjusted for funds not previously appropriated. The limit on the
growth of appropriations shall be certified to by the State Board of
Equalization.
2. Such certification shall be filed with the Governor, the
President and President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of
the House of Representatives. The Legislature shall not pass or enact
any bill, act or measure making an appropriation of money for any
purpose until such certification is made and filed, unless the State
Board of Equalization has failed to file said certification at the
time of convening of said Legislature. In such event, it shall be the
duty of the Legislature to make such certification pursuant to the
provisions of this section. All appropriations made in excess of such
certification shall be null and void; provided, however, that the
Legislature may at any regular session or special session, called for
that purpose, enact laws to provide for additional revenues or a
reduction in revenues, other than ad valorem taxes, or transferring
the existing revenues or unappropriated cash on hand from one fund to
another, or making provisions for appropriating funds not previously
appropriated directly by the Legislature. Whereupon, it shall be the
duty of the State Board of Equalization to make a determination of the
revenues that will accrue under such laws and ninety-five percent
(95%) of the amount of any increase or decrease resulting, for any
reason, from such changes in laws shall be added to or deducted from
the amount previously certified available for appropriation from each
respective fund, as the case may be. The State Board of Equalization
shall file the amount of such adjusted certification, or additional
certification for funds not previously appropriated directly by the
Legislature, with the Governor, with the President and President Pro
Tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, and such adjusted amount shall be the maximum amount
which can be appropriated for all purposes from any such fund for the
fiscal year being certified.
3. The State Board of Equalization shall meet within five (5)
days after the monthly apportionment in February of each year, and at
that time may adjust the certification, based upon the most current
information available, and determine the amount of funds available for
appropriation for that legislative session. At said meeting the Board
shall determine the limit on the growth of appropriations as provided
for in this section.
4. Surplus funds or monies shall be any amount accruing to the
General Revenue Fund of the State of Oklahoma over and above the
itemized estimate made by the State Board of Equalization.
Beginning July 1, 1985, all such surplus funds or monies accruing
after said date shall be placed in a Constitutional Reserve Fund by
the State Treasurer until such time that the amount of said Fund
equals ten percent (10%) of the General Revenue Fund certification for
the preceding fiscal year. Appropriations made from said Fund shall
be considered special appropriations.
Up to one-half (1/2) of the balance at the beginning of the
current fiscal year in the said Fund may be appropriated for the
forthcoming fiscal year, when the certification by the State Board of
Equalization for said forthcoming fiscal year General Revenue Fund is
less than that of the current fiscal year certification. In no event
shall the amount of monies appropriated from said Reserve Fund be in
excess of the difference between the two said certifications.
Up to one-half (1/2) of the balance at the beginning of the
current fiscal year in the said Fund may be appropriated, upon a
declaration by the Governor that emergency conditions exist, with
concurrence of the Legislature by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the House
of Representatives and Senate for the appropriation; or said one-half
(1/2) could be appropriated upon a joint declaration of emergency
conditions by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the
President Pro Tempore of the Senate, with a concurrence of a
three-fourths (3/4) vote of the House of Representatives and Senate.
5. That portion of every appropriation, at the end of each fiscal
year, in excess of actual revenues collected and allocated thereto, as
hereinafter provided, shall be null and void. Revenues deposited in
the State Treasury to the credit of the General Revenue Fund or of any
special fund (which derives its revenue in whole or in part from state
taxes or fees) shall, except as to principal and interest on the
public debt, be allocated monthly to each department, institution,
board, commission or special appropriation on a percentage basis, in
that ratio that the total appropriation for such department,
institution, board, commission or special appropriation from each fund
for that fiscal year bears to the total of all appropriations from
each fund for that fiscal year, and no warrant shall be issued in
excess of said allocation. Any department, institution or agency of
the state operating on revenues derived from any law or laws which
allocate the revenues thereof to such department, institution or
agency shall not incur obligations in excess of the unencumbered
balance of cash on hand.
6. The Legislature shall provide a method whereby appropriations
shall be divided and set up on a monthly, quarterly or semiannual
basis within each fiscal year to prevent obligations being incurred in
excess of the revenue to be collected, and notwithstanding other
provisions of this Constitution, the Legislature shall provide that
all appropriations shall be reduced to bring them within revenues
actually collected, but all such reductions shall apply to each
department, institution, board, commission or special appropriation
made by the State Legislature in the ratio that its total
appropriation for that fiscal year bears to the total of all
appropriations from that fund for that fiscal year; provided, however,
that the Governor may in his discretion issue deficiency certificates
to the State Treasurer for the benefit of any department, institution
or agency of the state, if the amount of such deficiency certificates
be within the limit of the current appropriation for that department,
institution or agency, whereupon the State Treasurer shall issue
warrants to the extent of such certificates for the payment of such
claims as may be authorized by the Governor, and such warrants shall
become a part of the public debt and shall be paid out of any money
appropriated by the Legislature and made lawfully available therefor;
provided further, that in no event shall said deficiency certificates
exceed in the aggregate the sum of Five Hundred Thousand Dollars
($500,000.00) in any fiscal year.
Upon the approval by the people of this state of the amendment to
this section contained in House Joint Resolution No. 1005 of the 1st
Session of the 40th Legislature, the State Board of Equalization shall
meet to recertify the amount of revenue available for appropriation
for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1986.
Section X-23a: Surplus accruing to General Revenue Fund - Payment of bonded indebtedness -Investments - Appropriation of surplus.Any surplus which has accrued or may hereafter accrue to the General Revenue Fund of the State of Oklahoma during any fiscal year shall be placed monthly in a sinking fund in the State Treasury to be used solely for the purpose of paying the principal and interest of the outstanding and unpaid bonded indebtedness of the State of Oklahoma. The monies and securities heretofore credited to the Surplus Accounts of the State Funding Bond Funds of 1935, 1939, and 1941 also shall be placed in said Sinking Fund. The State Treasurer shall be the custodian of said Sinking Fund and shall apply the monies and securities placed to the credit of said fund to the payment of the principal and interest of the state's bonded indebtedness. The State Treasurer with the approval of the Governor and Attorney General shall have the authority to invest the monies in said sinking fund in bonds or securities of the United States of America, and the State Treasurer with the approval of the Governor and Attorney General may sell said securities to provide funds to meet maturing State bonds and coupons. The provisions of this section shall be self-executing. When the monies credited to said sinking fund together with the monies set aside to pay said bonded indebtedness, pursuant to the statutes authorizing the issuance of said bonds, are sufficient to pay all outstanding bonds and coupons heretofore issued by the State of Oklahoma, it shall no longer be necessary to credit surplus funds to the Sinking Fund herein created. The sufficiency of said monies to fully pay the State's bonded indebtedness shall be determined by the Governor, State Treasurer, and Attorney General. After such determination any surplus monies thereafter to the credit of the State General Revenue Fund shall be subject to appropriation by the Legislature. -- THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA Oklahoma has a Constitutional Amendment from 1992 that requires a 3/4 vote of the Legislature to increase taxes. ARTICLE V - Legislative Department Section V-33: Revenue bills - Origination - Amendment - Limitations on passage - Effective date - Submission to voters. A. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of
Representatives. The Senate may propose amendments to revenue bills.
B. No revenue bill shall be passed during the five last days of
the session.
C. Any revenue bill originating in the House of Representatives
shall not become effective until it has been referred to the people
of the state at the next general election held throughout the state
and shall become effective and be in force when it has been approved
by a majority of the votes cast on the measure at such election and
not otherwise, except as otherwise provided in subsection D of this
section.
D. Any revenue bill originating in the House of Representatives
may become law without being submitted to a vote of the people of the
state if such bill receives the approval of three-fourths (3/4) of
the membership of the House of Representatives and three-fourths
(3/4) of the membership of the Senate and is submitted to the
Governor for appropriate action. Any such revenue bill shall not be
subject to the emergency measure provision authorized in Section 58
of this Article and shall not become effective and be in force until
ninety days after it has been approved by the Legislature, and acted
on by the Governor.
-- THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA Oklahoma’s Constitution limits the state’s Governor to two consecutive terms. A person can run for that office again after sitting out one term. Section VI-4: Terms of office - Succession. The term of office of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, State Auditor and Inspector, Attorney General, State Treasurer, Commissioner of Labor and Superintendent of Public Instruction shall be four (4) years from the second Monday of January next after their election. The said officers shall be eligible to immediately succeed themselves. No person shall be elected Governor more than two times in succession.
-- THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma’s Constitution limits members of the State Legislature to twelve years of service.Section V-17A: Limitation of time served in the Legislature.Any member of the Legislature who is elected to office after the effective date of this amendment shall be eligible to serve no more than 12 years in the Oklahoma State Legislature. Years in Legislative office need not be consecutive and years of service in both the Senate and the House of Representatives shall be added together and included in determining the total number of Legislative years in office. The years served by any member elected or appointed to serve less than a full Legislative term to fill a vacancy in office shall not be included in the 12-year limitation set forth herein; but no member who has completed 12 years in office shall thereafter be eligible to serve a partial term. Any member who is serving a Legislative term in office or who has been elected or appointed to serve a term in office on the effective date hereof shall be entitled to complete his or her term and shall be eligible to serve an additional 12 years thereafter. This amendment shall be effective on the 1st day of the year following its adoption.
-- THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA
Created by: Jennifer L. Crull Return to Public Interest Institute's Limitations on Government by States Homepage Return to Public Interest Institute's Limitations on Government by Issues Homepage |
