Photo by flickr user amy_b used under a Creative Commons License.

Trevor Shanklin recently completed a summer internship at the Oklahoma Policy Institute. He is a decorated disabled veteran of the Oklahoma Army National Guard where he served as a Recruiting and Retention NCO and a Combat Medic with the 1/279 Infantry Battalion. Trevor is currently a senior at Rogers State University majoring in Political Science with a minor in Public Administration.

In June, Governor Mary Fallin, Speaker of the House Kris Steele, and President Pro Tem of the Senate Brian Bingman came together to announce the Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI). Commenting on the JRI, Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Justin Jones said “The first step is for us to collect and analyze…data and fully understand our situation. Once this is done we will be able to craft policy options that apply research and best practices to make the Oklahoma public safer and the criminal justice system more effective.”

In the spirit of “collecting and analyzing data,” Oklahoma Policy Institute has prepared an an issue brief exploring one policy option which could have a substantial positive impact on the criminal justice system and public safety, along with public health and economic conditions in Oklahoma: raising the tax on alcoholic beverages. The brief, entitled  Should Oklahoma Revise the Alcoholic Beverage Tax?, looks at the history and current status of Oklahoma’s alcoholic beverage tax as well as the arguments for and against an increase in the tax. Read the rest of this entry »

[UPDATE: You can download ITEP's analysis here.]

Yesterday the Senate voted to abolish the state income tax after Sen. Tom Adelson (D-Tulsa) introduced the measure as an amendment to another bill. With public services heavily dependent on income tax and no immediate revenue prospects to replace it, the language will likely be removed before the bill is finalized. Democrats introduced the amendment (which they do not support) in an attempt to show that the tax cut rhetoric of the Republican majority is not compatible with responsible budgeting and the needs of public services.

While that is a political fight that will not have immediate repercussions on policy, it mirrors the trend of successive smaller cuts that have significantly reduced the income tax over time. From 2004 to 2006, the top income tax rate was cut from 6.65 percent to 5.5 percent. Unless the legislature acts to stop it, another state income tax cut will take effect January 1, 2012. The cut, which was triggered when the state projected that revenue will rise by more than 4 percent next year, would reduce the top rate to 5.25 percent. Read the rest of this entry »

Cap-and-trade limits of carbon dioxide emissions are burning up a lot of ink these days. Briefly, the idea is to set a limit on how much CO2 and other greenhouse gases could be created each year. Companies that create these gases–utilities, refineries, factories, and perhaps even ranches–would have to buy permits to do so. Permits would be traded on a market. The cost, of course, gets passed through the supply chain and ultimately to the consumer.

The White House has put its weight behind a market-based approach to emissions and a bill is starting its way through Congress. The New York Times suggests that this policy has broad enough support that it’s achieved the status of consensus. The approach

has been embraced by President Obama, Democratic leaders in Congress, mainstream environmental groups and a growing number of business interests, including energy-consuming industries like autos, steel and aluminum.

The Times apparently forgot to check with some Oklahoma elected officials. Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Cheyenn) has joined the Rural American Solutions Group in condemning cap and trade as unfair to rural residents:

On Tuesday 16 Republican members of the U.S. House, all members of the Rural America Solutions Group, spoke out against the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. Choosing to call it “the Democrats’ national energy tax on rural America,” they said the bill would disproportionately spike rural American energy bills, harm agriculture production and threaten small businesses.

The Oklahoma House of Representatives has also weighed in against cap and trade.

Read the rest of this entry »