If you’re reading this blog, chances are you’ve got opinions and points of view on some of the major policy issues confronting Oklahoma. What impact is the economic downturn and fiscal crisis having on the organizations you’re involved in and the people you care about? What should we be doing to operate government more effectively and fund services more fairly? What program is working that not enough people are hearing about?

This blog aims to be a forum where Oklahomans can share their perspectives, and we encourage you to contribute to  the conversation by submitting a guest blog post. Think of it as an op-ed with links.  We will help publicize pieces we post to our audiences and encourage you to send out the link to your friends, colleagues and networks. Read the rest of this entry »

Two years ago, Oklahoma Policy Institute was launched to provide timely and credible analysis of state policy issues that would help educate the state’s residents and guide public policy decisions.  We formed OK Policy to respond to the need for a results-oriented, analysis-driven organization that would gather data, develop proposals, and mobilize stakeholders to advance policies aimed at promoting fiscal responsibility, reducing poverty, and expanding economic opportunity.

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OK, so we’re supposed to be on blog break, but then I realized that we could end up as the only information source in the world without its own end-of-year Top 10 or “Best of” list. Not to miss the party, here are the 10 posts that got the most hits since the launch of our blog in March. If you missed some of these the first time around, here’s another chance to take a look.

10. The racial wealth gap — I reported on a provocative talk by Meizhu Lu on the extent and causes of the racial disparities in wealth and ownership in America.

9.  Fewer exceptions – Tobacco tax revenues rise while sales fall — thanks to changes in compacts and enforcement, the state is enjoying a win-win situation on tobacco.

8. Sunk: Mercury Marine fiasco sheds light on cost of state subsidy wars — a powerful example of how everybody can lose when states throw incentives at businesses. Read the rest of this entry »

Most people in this country today agree that indigenous tribes, who lived in the Americas before Europeans arrived, were treated less than fairly by their new neighbors. Unfortunately, the inequitable and inconsistent policies with regard to Native tribes are not strictly a thing of colonial or even early American history. Even into the second half of the 20^th century, the federal government implemented new versions of its on-again/off-again assimilation policies. These policies, often implemented without a full understanding of the differences between the tribes’ cultures and ways of self governance, proved to be hugely detrimental to the various tribal ways of life. Luckily, there has been a tremendous amount of resiliency shown in response.

Last week, as representatives from every Oklahoma tribe gathered in Washington DC for a Native American Summit, I gathered with the rest of my Leadership Oklahoma class in Tahlequah to learn more about Native American issues in Oklahoma. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week we posted a guest blog on a legislative proposal to change the treatment of military retirement income, which set off a small firestorm of controversy in our comments section. In the six months or so that we’ve been running this blog, this was the third time people have accepted our open invitation to submit guest contributions – the other two posts addressed protecting our natural resources and last session’s proposal to repeal education mandates in SB 834.

We look forward to running guest contributions more often. We believe this blog can serve as a forum for honest and lively debate. We encourage you to submit guest blog posts on subjects that are important to you or in response to points of view that others have expressed in this space. We just ask that everyone treat the OK Policy blog more like a front porch conversation than like a heated argument. This is a discussion of issues with the intent of making Oklahoma better for all of us. The first step to coming to agreement is to have a free exchange of ideas in a respectful way. Read the rest of this entry »

The Brookings Institution recently released a study of the continuing shift of jobs away from cities and toward the suburbs. According to Job Sprawl Revisited: The Changing Geography of Metropolitan Employment, only 21 percent of Americans who live in metropolitan areas work within three miles of a downtown area. All but three of the 98 areas studied have seen jobs move further away from the city center from 1998 to 2006. Nearly every industry is involved in this outward shift.

Only 21 percent of employees in the largest 98 metro areas work within three miles of downtown, while over twice that share (45 percent) work more than 10 miles away from the city center.

Oklahoma’s major metropolitan areas are joining in this trend. Our jobs are not as spread out as most metro areas, but lately they have been spreading faster. Just under a quarter of Oklahoma City (23.9 percent) and Tulsa (23.1 percent) jobs are 10 or more miles from the city center, compared to the national average of 45 percent. From 1998-2006, Oklahoma City share of jobs in this “outer ring” has grown by 4.6 percentage points; in Tulsa it grew by 3.8 percentage points. Both are considerably higher than the national average growth of 2.6 percent.

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As the Oklahoma Legislature winds down the 2009 session, there is still talk of tax relief–a lower top income tax rate, exemptions for oil and gas drilling, and limits on property tax growth–in spite of a budget shortfall of $600 million or more. With all the reductions of  the last few years and with some of our leaders calling for further tax cuts yet, it is easy to forget that Oklahoma already is a very low tax state.

OK Policy will soon release the Online Guide to Oklahoma Budget and Taxes. It offers a comprehensive look at government spending, revenues, budget processes, and important policy issues Oklahoma faces in  the years ahead. The Guide uses plain English, clear graphs, and an easy navigating system so readers can find out what they need in a hurry, or examine a subject in greater depth.

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