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
May 13, 2013 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Note: A version of this post appeared in the Journal Record
After two years of effort, Governor Fallin and legislative leaders finally succeeded in cutting Oklahoma’s top income tax rate. For those who have been actively opposing tax cuts as… Read more [More...]
By: David Blatt
May 2, 2013 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Last week, State Representative Jason Nelson (R- Oklahoma City) expressed concern about a presentation given by Kate Richey, a policy analyst for Oklahoma Policy Institute, as part of a lecture series sponsored by the Oklahoma Department of Human Series. The… Read more [More...]
By: David Blatt
April 30, 2013 // Updated: May 2, 2019
This presentation was delivered by Kate Richey on April 25, 2013 as part of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services policy and practice lecture series.
Closing the Opportunity Gap: Building Equity in Oklahoma… Read more [More...]
As legislators consider a final vote on a tax cut that would ultimately reduce state revenues by over $230 million, the state could be facing unexpected liabilities in the hundreds of millions of dollars due to a court case challenging… Read more [More...]
By: David Blatt
April 29, 2013 // Updated: May 2, 2019
The last weeks of Oklahoma’s legislative session often bring surprises as issues emerge seemingly from nowhere onto legislators’ desks. This year, one May surprise that should have legislators and the public deeply concerned is a a major but poorly-understood overhaul… Read more [More...]
By: David Blatt
April 24, 2013 // Updated: May 2, 2019
This blog post originally ran on April 24, 2012 and is reprinted verbatim. The claim that prior tax cuts led to higher tax revenues continues to be advanced by tax cut proponents in Oklahoma. For the findings of a survey… Read more [More...]
By: David Blatt
April 23, 2013 // Updated: May 2, 2019
While most attention this year has focused on competing proposals to lower the top income tax rate and curtail tax breaks, another proposal that would cut taxes for corporations by some $50 million has been quietly making its way through… Read more [More...]
By: David Blatt
April 15, 2013 // Updated: May 2, 2019
The Oklahoma Department of Human Service’s Practice and Policy Lecture Series will host our very own policy analyst, Kate Richey, on April 25th to discuss Oklahoma’s racial wealth gap in asset building. The free event will take place from noon… Read more [More...]
By: David Blatt
April 11, 2013 // Updated: April 15, 2013
Oklahoma Policy Institute is proud to announce that John Feaver of Chickasha and Ann-Clore Duncan of Edmond have joined its Board of Directors.
John Feaver is President of the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (USAO). John joined the… Read more [More...]
By: David Blatt
April 9, 2013 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Not too long ago, Oklahoma seemed on the verge of enacting a far-reaching reform of the state’s special-interest tax breaks. Now, after a series of setbacks, the prospect of meaningful reform seems to have vanished.
Oklahoma offers hundreds of tax… Read more [More...]