Budget Cuts To Affect Vulnerable Oklahomans

TIM TALLEY

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The director of the state Department of Human Services warned lawmakers Thursday that additional budget cuts will force his agency to scale back more services to vulnerable Oklahomans like a nutrition program for frail and isolated senior citizens that has already been cut by more than $7 million.

"You're going to see services cut to people who are more vulnerable than you appreciate," DHS Secretary Howard Hendricks told members of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services.

"We probably serve one million Oklahomans in the course of a year. It's an enormous undertaking," Hendricks said of his agency, which provides services to the elderly, abused and neglected children and people with developmental disabilities.

The department has asked that its current state appropriation of about $479 million be maintained for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

But lawmakers said another round of budget cuts is likely as state revenue continues to decline.

"There's going to be cuts, and they're going to be painful," said Sen. David Myers, R-Ponca City.