The Oklahoma State Department of Health says it will furlough some employees and offer buyouts to others in order to cover an estimated $10 million budget shortfall.
Starting Oct. 30, employees will have to take an unpaid day off every two weeks unless they make $35,000 a year or less. The health department is also preparing voluntary buyout offers it will present to employees in the coming weeks.
Coming off consecutive years of roughly $1 billion state budget shortfalls, state lawmakers cut the health department's budget 2.8 percent this year.
"We are grateful to the legislature and governor for trying to minimize budget cuts to the department,” said Oklahoma State Department of Health Senior Deputy Commissioner Julie Cox-Kain. “However, the cumulative annual reduction in state appropriation to the OSDH since 2009 is 29.24 percent."
Besides dwindling state appropriations, the health department is coming up short because of higher costs to provide services and the loss of federal funds, which make up nearly 60 percent of the agency's budget.
The furloughs and buyouts the health department is turning to now do not take into account any further cuts lawmakers may make during special session.
