OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Gov. Mary Fallin says Oklahoma could lose as many as 8,000 jobs in the aerospace and defense industries if the nation falls off the federal fiscal cliff.

Oklahoma is home to five military bases and the aerospace industry is one of the state's largest employers. Fallin said Thursday that both industries could lose thousands of jobs due to the fiscal cliff's combination of steep spending cuts and tax hikes.

Fallin says federal spending cuts also would have a trickle-down effect on other businesses, including companies that deal with office supplies, rental cars, hotels and restaurants.

Fallin says she has urged federal officials to resolve the issue before cuts go into effect in January.
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Fallin also says uncertainty over whether federal leaders will resolve the fiscal cliff is complicating her efforts to prepare an executive budget for the upcoming year.

Fallin said Thursday her office is putting together a state budget for the 2014 fiscal year that begins July 1, but she says it's challenging without knowing whether the fiscal cliff's deep spending cuts and tax hikes will kick in early 2013.

Fallin says she instructed her staff to prepare the budget using figures currently in place for federal funding of state services like education and health care. The governor says those figures will have to be altered if federal spending cuts kick in.

The executive budget must be in lawmakers' hands by January. The 2013 legislative session begins on Feb. 4.