Paul Shinn served as Budget and Tax Senior Policy Analyst with OK Policy from May 2019 until December 2021. Before joining OK Policy, Shinn held budget and finance positions for the Oklahoma House of Representatives, the Department of Human Services, the cities of Oklahoma City and Del City and several local governments in his native Oregon. He also taught political science and public administration at the University of Oklahoma, University of Central Oklahoma, and California State University Stanislaus. While with the Government Finance Officers Association, Paul worked on consulting and research projects for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and several state agencies and local governments. He also served as policy analyst for CAP Tulsa. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from University of Oklahoma and degrees from the University of Oregon and the University of Maryland College Park. He lives in Oklahoma City with his wife Carmelita.
By: Paul Shinn
June 26, 2009 // Updated: May 2, 2019
If we need any more evidence for how divided politics is in our nation today, here’s a couple video clips. Here, Rep. Henry Waxman, Democrat from California, argues for his cap-and-trade bill on climate change, while Oklahoma Republican Rep. Mary… Read more [More...]
By: Paul Shinn
June 24, 2009 // Updated: May 2, 2019
If you look closely at our most recent Numbers You Need summary of Oklahoma economic and fiscal indicators, you’ll find a puzzle. On one hand, economic hardship is evident.
Oklahoma’s unemployment rate continued its rapid ascent in April, climbing to… Read more [More...]
By: Paul Shinn
June 17, 2009 // Updated: October 17, 2012
As we reported last week, the 2009 legislative session was relatively calm for Oklahoma’s local governments. Last week’s post summarized the good news, including some greater control over governance and more land use planning tools. There is bad news, too.… Read more [More...]
By: Paul Shinn
June 11, 2009 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Health care reform is in the news. We have the world’s most expensive health care system, but our health care outcomes are not that good and we still leave one-sixth of Americans under age 65 without insurance coverage. President Obama… Read more [More...]
By: Paul Shinn
June 9, 2009 // Updated: October 17, 2012
Nobody fears the coming of a new legislative session more than Oklahoma’s 1,900 local governments. Because they are legally “creatures of the state,” our counties, cities, and special districts are subject to the state’s complete control. The Legislature often exerts… Read more [More...]
By: Paul Shinn
June 4, 2009 // Updated: May 1, 2019
Just a day after Governor Brad Henry signed the state budget for FY ’10, Oklahoma Policy Institute released its annual budget review. And the new fiscal year, which starts July 1, promises to be an interesting one:
all agencies face… Read more [More...]
By: Paul Shinn
June 2, 2009 // Updated: May 1, 2019
Federal stimulus money has been in the news nationally and in Oklahoma. It has expanded or stabilized a wide range of public services. The recently-completed state budget for FY’10 used $641 million of stimulus funding to make up for over… Read more [More...]
By: Paul Shinn
May 29, 2009 // Updated: May 2, 2019
Cap-and-trade limits of carbon dioxide emissions are burning up a lot of ink these days. Briefly, the idea is to set a limit on how much CO2 and other greenhouse gases could be created each year. Companies that create these… Read more [More...]
By: Paul Shinn
May 28, 2009 // Updated: May 2, 2019
In the first year that Republicans fully control the Legislature, who would expect we’d have so little to report from the tax cut beat? The economy and a $600-plus million revenue shortfall, of course, were major factors in tax decisions.… Read more [More...]
By: Paul Shinn
May 27, 2009 // Updated: May 1, 2019
Stateline.org is an indispensable–and free–source of news and analysis on just about every aspect of state government. Last week, staff author Pamela M. Prah provided an excellent analysis on the state of California’s budget crisis and–more importantly for us–what other… Read more [More...]