How quickly can a crisis become a catastrophe? Apparently, about as fast as a budget crunch becomes a budget crisis.

To those who write definitions goes the power to modify meanings. To those who write budgets — or analyze them — goes the privilege of defining down or defining up the nature of a fiscal shortfall.

Gov. Brad Henry started the year wearing rose-colored glasses, admitting the gravity of the budget crisis but offering mitigating ideas such as "revenue enhancements.” We haven’t heard much from him since on that topic, but his spokesman says this is because negotiations are carried out away from the public eye, among a small group of players.

State Rep. Ken Miller, chairman of the House Appropriations and Budget Committee, sees a budget hole for fiscal 2011 "in the $500 million range.” That’s a crisis. Oklahoma Policy Institute analyst David Blatt sees a shortfall of $850 million. That’s a catastrophe.

Henry, Miller and Blatt know the state is running out of options for balancing a budget without meaningful "revenue enhancements.” Tax increases aren’t being discussed (it’s an election year), only adjustments to tax credits.

Blatt has said the effort to minimize cuts to education and public safety is putting severe pressure on other state services. Mental health is one of them, he said.

The Rainy Day Fund is not sufficiently full to meet this crisis, catastrophe or whatever it is that we’re in. The people may ultimately be asked to decide if they think state government needs more revenue.