In 2004, Oklahoma voters approved a series of measures that created the Oklahoma Education Lottery (SQ 705 & SQ 706), authorized and regulated gaming (SQ 712) and increased tobacco taxes (SQ 713) to generate new revenues to help fund education and health care. In these revised and updated 1-page fact sheets, we look at how these revenue sources operate, the amount of annual revenue collections from each source and where the revenues have been allocated.

An August 2010 Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy report looks at how the group of tax breaks known as "itemized deductions" cost states hundreds of millions of dollars each year while providing no benefit to the great majority of Oklahoma taxpayers.

ITEP full report and press release: "Writing Off" Tax Giveaways: How States Can Help Balance Their Budgets by Reforming (or Repealing) Itemized Deductions

The Oklahoma Asset Building Coalition is hosting five regional meetings that will look at ways to strengthen asset building practices and policies in Oklahoma. The meetings will be held from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm on the following days:

Tricia Brooks, Senior Fellow with the Georgetown Center for Children and Families, gave this presentation in Tulsa on June 18, 2010 as part of a forum titled, "Health Care Reform 2010: Transitioning Health Care for Oklahoma's Children and Families." You can  download the presentation as a PDF file or view it online by clicking through below. For more information on health care reform from CCF, click here.

Numbers You Need is a monthly publication from OK Policy that presents key data on the state's economy, work force, human services, and budget in one concise easy-to-read fact sheet.

An OK Policy brief titled "Let There Be Light: Making Oklahoma's Tax Expenditures More Transparent and Accountable" makes the case for increasing disclosure and scrutiny of tax expenditures, the array of exemptions, credits, deductions, and the like in the tax code that allow taxes not to be paid when they otherwise would.

The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Oklahoma 2009 calculates the amount of income Oklahoma families need to meet their basic needs. The report was prepared by Dr. Diana Pearce of the Cenetr for Women's Welfare at the University of Washington for the Oklahoma Asset Building Coalition.

Click here for the full 102-page report, which includes Tables calculating the Standard for 8 family types in each county, plus Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

OK Policy's issue brief, More Than Just Getting By, serves as an overview of asset building in Oklahoma. A major segment of the population has few, if any, assets, despite the fact that they are a key element in developing financial security. Policies that build and protect assets can help to provide opportunity and strengthen Oklahoma's middle class.

A new report  from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) reveals that low and moderate-income Oklahomans pay a greater percentage of their incomes in state and local taxes than those with higher incomes. 

The full report is available here.

Oklahoma-specific results from the report are available here.

A fact sheet from Oklahoma Policy Institute offers a series of concise numbers and graphs summarizing key findings from the 2008 American Community Survey on poverty in Oklahoma. 

Oklahoma Policy Institute's Online Budget Guide, a comprehensive look at how Oklahoma state and local governments raise money and provide public services, is now fully available.

OK Policy and the Oklahoma Asset Building Coalition are pleased to partner with CFED to release the 2009-2010 Assets and Opportunity Scorecard, a comprehensive look at wealth, poverty and the financial security of families.

It's back to school for OK Policy's Stimulus update! Our August 2009 issue profiles over $425 million in new federal money available to Oklahoma's education system.