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
February 22, 2012 // Updated: May 2, 2019
After three straight years of budget cuts, funding for public education in Oklahoma is in dire straits. This year’s appropriation to the Department of Education is $254 million, or 10.0 percent, less than it was in 2009. In the past… Read more [More...]
By: David Blatt
February 20, 2012 // Updated: May 2, 2019
The push to eliminate Oklahoma’s personal income tax relies heavily for intellectual support on a study done for the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs by economist Arthur Laffer and his colleagues. The Laffer report makes two claims: (1) that states… Read more [More...]
By: David Blatt
February 19, 2012 // Updated: May 2, 2019
NOTE: This week, Oklahomans learned the state was on the hook to pay oil and gas producers $294 million over the next three years in deferred tax rebates for horizontal and deep well drilling in 2010 and 2011, an amount… Read more [More...]
By: David Blatt
February 15, 2012 // Updated: May 2, 2019
The 2012 legislative session convened last Monday and will run until the end of May (click here for a complete run-though of how this works in our handy Legislative Overview). With 1,934 new bills filed, it takes awhile before we… Read more [More...]
By: David Blatt
February 13, 2012 // Updated: October 17, 2012
Oklahoma Policy Institute is delighted to announce that Megan Williams Benn will be joining our team as an outreach coordinator working with a broad group of organizations on efforts to protect our tax base and ensure adequate funding of public… Read more [More...]
Update: We have put out a fact sheet summarizing major flaws in the Laffer report.
Do states without an income tax enjoy stronger economic growth? This is one of the central claims made by economist Arthur Laffer in a recent… Read more [More...]
By: David Blatt
February 7, 2012 // Updated: May 2, 2019
The Affordable Care Act, the federal health care law that takes full effect in 2014, is expected to provide health insurance coverage to over 335,000 uninsured Oklahomans and reduce the state’s uncompensated health care costs by more than two-thirds ,… Read more [More...]
By: David Blatt
February 1, 2012 // Updated: May 2, 2019
The question of whether to require a prescription for the purchase of pseudoephedrine (the main ingredient in medications such as Sudafed) as a means to help combat the production of methamphetamine, promises to be one of the hotly contested issues… Read more [More...]
By: David Blatt
January 30, 2012 // Updated: May 1, 2019
Last week I participated in a StateImpact Oklahoma forum on the state budget with Rep. Earl Sears, the Chair of the House Appropriations and Budget Committee (R-Bartlesville), and Sen. Tom Adelson (D-Tulsa). An audience member asked the legislators what they… Read more [More...]
By: David Blatt
January 25, 2012 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Doug Hall is Director of the Economic Analysis and Research Network at The Economic Policy Institute. This is a slightly revised version of a post that originally appeared on EPI’s Working Economics blog.
Later today, I will pass through two… Read more [More...]
OKPOLICY.ORG
After three straight years of budget cuts, funding for public education in Oklahoma is in dire straits. This year’s appropriation to the Department of Education is $254 million, or 10.0 percent, less than it was in 2009. In the past… Read more [More...]
The push to eliminate Oklahoma’s personal income tax relies heavily for intellectual support on a study done for the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs by economist Arthur Laffer and his colleagues. The Laffer report makes two claims: (1) that states… Read more [More...]
NOTE: This week, Oklahomans learned the state was on the hook to pay oil and gas producers $294 million over the next three years in deferred tax rebates for horizontal and deep well drilling in 2010 and 2011, an amount… Read more [More...]
The 2012 legislative session convened last Monday and will run until the end of May (click here for a complete run-though of how this works in our handy Legislative Overview). With 1,934 new bills filed, it takes awhile before we… Read more [More...]
Update: We have put out a fact sheet summarizing major flaws in the Laffer report.
Do states without an income tax enjoy stronger economic growth? This is one of the central claims made by economist Arthur Laffer in a recent… Read more [More...]
The Affordable Care Act, the federal health care law that takes full effect in 2014, is expected to provide health insurance coverage to over 335,000 uninsured Oklahomans and reduce the state’s uncompensated health care costs by more than two-thirds ,… Read more [More...]
The question of whether to require a prescription for the purchase of pseudoephedrine (the main ingredient in medications such as Sudafed) as a means to help combat the production of methamphetamine, promises to be one of the hotly contested issues… Read more [More...]
Last week I participated in a StateImpact Oklahoma forum on the state budget with Rep. Earl Sears, the Chair of the House Appropriations and Budget Committee (R-Bartlesville), and Sen. Tom Adelson (D-Tulsa). An audience member asked the legislators what they… Read more [More...]
Doug Hall is Director of the Economic Analysis and Research Network at The Economic Policy Institute. This is a slightly revised version of a post that originally appeared on EPI’s Working Economics blog.
Later today, I will pass through two… Read more [More...]
