OKLAHOMA CITY — State troopers and other state public safety employees in Oklahoma face the equivalent of a month-long furlough if lawmakers don’t cough up another $12 million for the Department of Public Safety’s budget.

Without the money, Public Safety Commissioner Michael Thompson said he cannot maintain current operations and staffing, which he contends are already reduced.

“I am very optimistic that the leadership will recognize the urgency of this request and move forward to support public safety as they always have,” Thompson said in a statement issued Wednesday.

Furloughs of 23 working days each would affect all of the department’s 1,450 employees, 800 of whom are troopers.

Public Safety officials said last week that some of their money woes stem from hefty raises ordered by the Legislature three years ago. The raises are only half-funded under the current budget.

Lawmakers grappling with a $1.3 billion shortfall earlier this year slashed most agencies’ budgets. Public Safety saw an 11.3 percent cut, dropping its budget to $89 million.

Wednesday’s announcement came as a “complete surprise” to Rep. Bobby Cleveland, interim chairman of the House Public Safety Committee.

The Slaughterville Republican said he spoke with Thompson two weeks ago, and “he didn’t tell me then he was going to come up with that furlough.”

Thompson said he needed more money but could wait until lawmakers met again in February, which would give them more options to shuffle around funds, Cleveland said.

“I think there’s lots of things you could try before you furlough,” he said. “I would like to know what they’ve done to cut back and save money.”

In Wednesday’s statement, Thompson said cuts thus far have included voluntary buyouts for nearly 50 employees; a hiring freeze; holding off on plans to upgrade a radio system; and postponing an upgrade of the department’s aging computers.

The department said last week it has canceled its trooper academies for the year.

Secretary of Finance Preston Doerflinger said lawmakers could dip into $140 million that officials over-collected when trimming budgets last year and give a portion to Public Safety.

Gov. Mary Fallin has proposed using that money to give every teacher in the state a $5,000 raise. She is considering asking lawmakers to come back to Oklahoma City for a special session to do it.

Should lawmakers do nothing, the money will go back to the departments and agencies from which it was taken. Under that scenario, the Department of Public Safety is slated to receive $1.9 million.

Doerflinger said a “best-case” situation would be working out a plan with lawmakers for teacher raises that doesn’t use the $140 million, or takes just a portion of it.

“If that happened, a special session could be held to address teacher pay and distribute that $140 million in a way that sees agencies like (Public Safety) with the biggest needs get more funds than they would otherwise,” he said. “All this is contingent on agreement with the Legislature, and those talks are ongoing.”

Janelle Stecklein covers the Oklahoma Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach her at jstecklein@cnhi.com.