An Overview of Transportation Spendin
Continuing our series on the 10 largest state agencies, we now arrive at number four: the Department of Transportation.
According to OCPA, HB 2895, passed in 2021, changed the ROADS fund from apportioned (think off-the-top) funds to appropriated funds. This resulted in an additional $395 million being added to the Transportation’s appropriated amount in fiscal year 2021. You can see from the spike in the graph above when this additional money hit the Department’s coffers. That amount has grown to $590 million for the current fiscal year. Apart from the ROADS funding, appropriations have remained relatively stable with a modest increase in the last few years. Data from the Oklahoma Board of Equalization show that without the ROADS funding, Department of Transportation appropriations have grown from $187 million to $411 million between fiscal years 2022 and 2024, not adjusted for inflation.