Former Executive Director David Blatt joined OK Policy in 2008 and served as its Executive Director from 2010 to 2019. He previously served as Director of Public Policy for Community Action Project of Tulsa County and as a budget analyst for the Oklahoma State Senate. He has a Ph.D. in political science from Cornell University and a B.A. from the University of Alberta. David has been selected as Political Scientist of the Year by the Oklahoma Political Science Association, Local Social Justice Champion by the Dan Allen Center for Social Justice, and Public Citizen of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers.
By: David Blatt
March 31, 2014 // Updated: May 2, 2019
These are the prepared remarks delivered by David Blatt at the Oklahoma Education Rally on March 31st
It’s amazing to see such a huge crowd standing up for public education and Oklahoma’s children. Thank you all for being here.
My… Read more [More...]
By: David Blatt
March 25, 2014 // Updated: May 1, 2019
The Board of Equalization has certified that legislators will have $188 million less for next year’s budget compared to this year. In her FY 2015 Executive Budget, Governor Fallin proposed an overall cut of 1.9 percent across all of state… Read more [More...]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Contact: David Blatt
(918) 859-8747(918) 859-8747
(TULSA, OK): Despite a drop in revenue certified as available for next year’s budget, a new brief from Oklahoma Policy Institute shows that budget cuts are not… Read more [More...]
Despite a drop in revenue certified as available for next year’s budget, a new report from Oklahoma Policy Institute shows that budget cuts are not inevitable. [More...]
By: David Blatt
March 20, 2014 // Updated: May 2, 2019
In recent years there has been a tremendous growth of horizontal drilling for oil and gas across the United States. In Oklahoma, this has led to growing concern that the state’s tax breaks for horizontal drilling are growing out of… Read more [More...]
By: David Blatt
March 12, 2014 // Updated: May 2, 2019
In 2011, the Oklahoma legislature approved major amendments to the Reading Sufficiency Act, a law originally enacted in 1997 to improve Oklahoma children’s reading skills. As of this year, the law requires third-grade students who score “unsatisfactory” on a state… Read more [More...]
By: David Blatt
March 6, 2014 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Recently, Treasurer Ken Miller shared data from the Council of Governments showing that Oklahoma ranked 7th in the percentage of state expenditures from federal funds, with more than two-fifths (43 percent) of all dollars spent by the state spending coming… Read more [More...]
By: David Blatt
March 4, 2014 // Updated: May 2, 2019
The Oklahoma Senate and House of Representatives are both considering bills to cut Oklahoma’s top income tax rate in future years based on revenue targets, or triggers. Pushing tax cuts into the future and making them conditional on triggers is… Read more [More...]
By: David Blatt
February 25, 2014 // Updated: May 1, 2019
During this year’s State of the State address, Gov. Mary Fallin expressed strong support for doing away with traditional defined benefit pension plans for new hires within the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) in favor of 401k-style defined contribution… Read more [More...]
By: David Blatt
February 19, 2014 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Once again this session, proponents of cuts to Oklahoma’s top income tax rate are arguing that cutting taxes will lead to higher tax revenues, basing their position on the notion that Oklahoma’s tax collections rose after the state cut taxes… Read more [More...]