Recent Articles

OK Policy Memo: Expect Budget Shortfalls to Continue; Balanced Approach to Bridging the Budget Gap is Urged

Whoever wins the elections in November will face difficult choices in filling large budget holes and balancing the budget in the years ahead, according to a memo to candidates and elected officials released today by Oklahoma Policy Institute, an independent… Read more [More...]

Candidate Memo: The State Budget – Outlook and Recommendations

In early October, OK Policy distributed and released a memo to Oklahoma candidates and elected officials on the state budget. The memo was intended to provide a concise summary of our analysis of the state’s fiscal situation, and to suggest… Read more [More...]

Resources on Assets and Financial Security

OK Policy is actively involved in developing and promoting policy ideas that will allow more Oklahomans to build assets as a way to reduce poverty and expand economic opportunity. This page is intended as a guide to some key resources… Read more [More...]

New Report Urges Reform of Itemized Deductions

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… Read more [More...]

Think tank’s rejection a major blow for SQ 744 (Oklahoman)

Original at http://newsok.com/article/3479304 The addition of the Oklahoma Policy Institute to the ranks of those opposed to the most important state question on the November ballot is the strongest sign yet of just how ill-conceived the proposal is. State Question… Read more [More...]

Policy group: SQ 744 to cost $1.7 billion over 3 years (Tulsa World)

Original at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=16&articleid=20100721_16_A7_OKLAHO783410 By BARBARA HOBEROCK World Capitol Bureau OKLAHOMA CITY — A ballot measure that would require per-pupil spending to be increased to that of neighboring states would cost $1.7 billion over three years, according to the Oklahoma Policy… Read more [More...]

New OK Policy Issue Brief Finds State Question 744 to be “The Wrong Solution” for Oklahoma

Contact: David Blatt, Director Office: (918) 794-3944; Cell: (918) 859-8747  (Tulsa, July 20, 2010):  State Question 744, the proposed constitutional amendment that would peg the annual education budget in Oklahoma to funding levels in six neighboring states, is the wrong… Read more [More...]

SQ 744

On November 2, 2010, Oklahomans will vote on SQ 744, a constitutional amendment that would peg the annual education budget in Oklahoma to the regional average per pupil expenditure in six neighboring states. OK Policy has released an issue brief… Read more [More...]

Health Care Reform 2010 – Transitioning Health Care for Oklahomas Children and Families

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… Read more [More...]

What's at stake: Public health budget cuts

While discussing the state of public health in Oklahoma with a House health appropriations subcommittee, Health Commissioner Terry Cline warned that “Oklahoma is about to become the public health joke of the country.” With Oklahoma standing at 49th in overall… Read more [More...]