Governor Discusses State Of Economy

By Chris Wright, The News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK -- Governor Henry urges Oklahomans to have faith in our state's economy.  He stressed on Thursday that we are in a good position to survive the current financial crisis.  The governor says steps will be taken to make sure our economy remains strong.

Scott Meachum, the state treasurer, will head up an in-depth review of Oklahoma's economy.  The governor says the idea is to be pro-active and avoid the financial problems that are already plaguing other states.

"We have positioned ourselves well in the State of Oklahoma to weather any economic storm that comes our way," said Governor Brad Henry.

Governor Henry stressed that point during his Thursday afternoon news conference at the Capitol.    

To justify it, he and Oklahoma Treasurer Meachum pointed to the health of the oil and gas industry.  They also claim that the state's revenues for this year are $74 million ahead of estimates.

If things do take a turn for the worse though, we have more than $600 million set aside in a rainy day fund.

"What we have seen is a collapse of financing on an historic scale.  In Oklahoma, the story is very different.  We see health in the State of Oklahoma," said Treasurer Scott Meachum.

Of course, that doesn't mean Oklahomans are entirely unaffected by what has happened on Wall Street.  Anyone with a 401-K knows that. 

Meachum also says that the crisis has made it difficult to sell state bonds.  Those bonds are needed to finance various state projects.

"In Oklahoma we have gone from a position of being sort of curious onlookers to now being justly very concerned as they've seen pensions, life savings affected by the stock market over the last week," said Treasurer Scott Meachum.

State leaders say there's no guarantee there won't be more fallout from the financial meltdown.  But, they believe our state is capable of dealing with it.

"The bottom line is that we're going to have a period where we all work together to get through.  Oklahomans have faced many adversities and we've always overcome them because we're Oklahomans," said Governor Brad Henry.