It pays to recycle: Lessons from the Budget Crisis

Just a quick post to let you know that the Oklahoman today ran an op-ed setting out the policy proposals we have developed for managing budget downturns. The op-ed was based on the full issue brief and 1-page summary we… Read more [More...]

Learning from the crisis (1): More frequent and better forecasting can help guide a path

As state leaders struggle with how to manage the enormous budget shortfalls the state faces this year and next, the focus is understandably on decisions that must be made over the coming weeks and months.  But while short-term challenges are… Read more [More...]

Safeguarding Medicaid eligibility in the budget downturn

During the last state fiscal crisis, from 2002 -04, funding for Oklahoma’s Medicaid program was hit hard. In FY ’02 and FY ’03, as revenues began to plummet, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) put coverage of almost all non-mandatory… Read more [More...]

Unemployed Poor

The Oklahoman had an editorial today about the increase in the numbers of Oklahomans needing assistance to get by. Food stamp usage has reached an all time high in Oklahoma. It is a sobering editorial, but an issue that needs… Read more [More...]

Managing the fiscal pain

Last week I sat down with the editorial board of the Tulsa World to discuss the state’s worsening fiscal outlook. Julie Delcour’s column in today’s Opinion section sets out some of our main messages about the severity of the problem… Read more [More...]