Last week Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin signed into law a new budget, and green groups were cheered to see what appeared to be a boost in funding to environmental agencies.
However, as StateImpact reports,it appears those funding boosts were nothing but smoke and mirrors.
For example, the budget provides the Oklahoma Conservation Commission with a $1 million grant.
But a closer look shows that the million can only be used in accordance with a Federal dam repair fund, and when that money is removed as a factor, the commission is actually receiving a cut of $333,000.
That’s not the only funding cut that was hidden in the budget. On paper it appears the state Department of Agriculture received a funding boost of over five percent. However, that money is actually unavailable to the department, which is actually seeing a slash in funding.
