The Institute for Truth in Accounting (IFTA) has released a “Financial State of the State” report for Oklahoma. As the group based in Northbook, Illinois  (the Chicago area) says, “the numbers are not good and they are getting worse every day. Oklahoma has only $3 billion to pay $19.4 billion of bills. Each Oklahoma family’s share of the state’s financial shortfall is $14,600.”

In interviews with CapitolBeatOK on Thursday, March 11 and again on Monday, March 15 (when she revised her estimate upward), Sheila Weinberg, founder and CEO of the Institute, said, “The gap for Oklahoma is big, but frankly I’m surprised that it is not worse.” Asked to compare Oklahoma and other states, she replied, “To give you a couple of reference points, our analysis shows that the gap in Missouri is $12,000 per family. In Illinois, it is $32,000 per family.”

In her prepared statement released for the new “state of the state” analysis, Weinberg said, “To truly balance the state’s budget, the Governor and Legislature should not push the payment of our current bills into the future. And a state budget is not balanced if the pension funds are not adequately funded.” Weinberg’s analysis amplifies previous criticisms of Oklahoma’s unfunded mandates in a report from the Pew Center for the States.