Oklahoma Gov. Fallin to talk again with president

Fallin, vice chairman of the National Governors Association, is attending the nonpartisan group's winter meeting this weekend and will be urging the president not to unfairly slash funding to states in their effort to reduce the federal deficit through what is being called the sequester.

Part of the message Fallin hopes to deliver is that states should be freed from spending mandates if federal budget cuts make them unaffordable, the Republican governor said. She and other governors will meet with President Barack Obama on Sunday night and Monday; Fallin was among several governors who met in December with the president about the spending cuts.

“I'm going to discuss with him how when these federal cuts come down to the states that states must have flexibility to be able to service our constituents in a way that best meets their needs,” Fallin said. “Let the states be able to innovate to create and to determine where we make the cuts when they do come down from the federal government, how we can still provide essential services.”