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
December 23, 2015 // Updated: May 1, 2019
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...]
By: David Blatt
December 21, 2015 // Updated: December 20, 2015
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...]
By: David Blatt
December 17, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
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...]
By: David Blatt
December 16, 2015 // Updated: June 17, 2020
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...]
By: David Blatt
November 30, 2015 // Updated: May 1, 2019
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...]
By: David Blatt
November 18, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
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...]
By: David Blatt
October 26, 2015 // Updated: May 1, 2019
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...]
By: David Blatt
September 24, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
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...]
By: David Blatt
September 23, 2015 // Updated: September 23, 2015
Oklahoma Policy Institute is very pleased to announce that Alexandra Bohannon, Matt Hecox, John Lepine and Candace Smith have been selected as our third class of Research Fellows for 2015-16.
The Fellowship program is intended to recognize and support top-performing… Read more [More...]
By: David Blatt
August 20, 2015 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Low voter turnout is a serious problem in Oklahoma, as we’ve discussed previously in issue briefs and blog posts. Most recently, just one in three eligible voters in Oklahomans went to the polls in the 2014 mid-term election. Electoral disengagement… Read more [More...]
OKPOLICY.ORG
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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
Oklahoma Policy Institute is very pleased to announce that Alexandra Bohannon, Matt Hecox, John Lepine and Candace Smith have been selected as our third class of Research Fellows for 2015-16.
The Fellowship program is intended to recognize and support top-performing… Read more [More...]
Low voter turnout is a serious problem in Oklahoma, as we’ve discussed previously in issue briefs and blog posts. Most recently, just one in three eligible voters in Oklahomans went to the polls in the 2014 mid-term election. Electoral disengagement… Read more [More...]
