Recent Articles

Five reasons NOT to make a year-end donation to OK Policy

As the end of the year approaches, you’re no doubt besieged by dozens of organizations that do good and important work pleading for a donation. While we too spend a lot of time telling our supporters why they should donate… Read more [More...]

15 for ’15: Our most popular blog posts of the year

It’s been another busy and productive year for OK Policy. We organized a series of major events, including our 3rd Summer Policy Institute, 2nd State Budget Summit, and 1st Fall Pol workshop; added two new staffers, Tyler Parette and DeVon… Read more [More...]

Making sense of the mid-year “revenue failure”

Today Finance Secretary Preston Doerflinger officially declared a revenue failure, triggering $176.9 million in cuts in agency allocations for the current budget year, FY 2016. The revenue failure is the result of revenue collections coming in well below the official… Read more [More...]

In the Know is on break!

Our hard-working elves who stay up late and get up early to compile In the Know for you each day are taking a couple of weeks off to rest up and help spread holiday cheer. ITK will be back, refreshed… Read more [More...]

Teacher recruitment legislation not enough to fix Oklahoma’s teacher shortage (Guest Post: Jennifer Job)

This is the third of a three-part series appearing this week on the OK Policy Blog that examines the reasons behind Oklahoma’s teacher shortage and what we can do to fix it. You can read part one here and read… Read more [More...]

Study shows higher teacher pay would ease teacher shortage, boost student outcomes

This is the second of a three-part series appearing this week on the OK Policy Blog examine the reasons behind Oklahoma’s teacher shortage and what we can do to fix it. You can see part one here and see part… Read more [More...]

Would budget-only sessions create more problems than they solve?

This is an updated and expanded version of a column that originally appeared in the Journal Record. No one who observes or participates in developing Oklahoma’s budget is happy with how things work. Each year, the Legislature approves billions in… Read more [More...]

Don’t touch Oklahoma’s Tobacco Settlement Trust Fund

As Oklahoma staggers through an apparently endless string of bad budget years, our investments in education, health care, public safety, and infrastructure that are tied to the annual budget cycle are suffering. Amid all the cuts and all the struggles… Read more [More...]

Budget challenges call for better tools

As Oklahoma grapples with a deepening budget crisis, one of the greatest challenges our policymakers face is the absence of a full and forward-looking picture of the state’s financial situation to help guide tax and spending decisions. Year after year,… Read more [More...]

Is Oklahoma headed for a revenue shortfall?

The next legislative session is still four months off, and we’re nine long months out from the start of the next fiscal year. Yet concern is already mounting that the state’s protracted budget crisis is likely to get more severe.… Read more [More...]